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CENTENNIAL HISTORY 

OF 

AMERICAN METHODISM, 

INCLUSIVE OF ITS ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION IN 1784 
AND ITS SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT UNDER 
THE SUPERINTENDENCY OF 

FRANCIS ASBURY. 

WITH SKETCHES OF THE CHARACTER AND HISTORY OF ALL THE 
PREACHERS KNOWN TO HAVE BEEN MEMBERS OF 
THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE ; 

ALSO, 

AN APPENDIX, 

SHOWING THE NUMERICAL POSITION OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL 
CHURCH AS COMPARED WITH THE OTHER LEADING EVANGELICAL 
DENOMINATIONS IN THE CITIES OF THE UNITED STATES ; 
AND THE CONDITION OF THE EDUCATIONAL 
WORK OF THE CHURCH. 



/ BY 

JOHN ATKINSON, D.D. 




CINCINNA TI: 
C R A X S T N & S 1 WE. 
1884. 



Copyright 1884, by 
New York. 



U BRAKY 

of e eNO* E* s1 

WASHINGTON 



TO MESSRS. DAVID TAYLOR AND SAMUEL STERLINC, 

Jersey City, New Jersey. 



MY DEAR FRIENDS : When, several months ago, very 
unexpectedly to myself, you, as the official representa- 
tives of Trinity Church, kindly wrote to me in reference to 
again becoming its pastor, I replied that it would give me 
joy to be restored to the relation which I had sustained to 
you with so much pleasure to myself for nearly three years 
immediately previous to my transfer to a Western pastorate 
in the fall of 1875 ; and also that I was engaged upon a 
history of American Methodism which must be completed. 
This last fact did not, I am glad to know, deter you, nor the 
officiary of Trinity Church, from requesting my appointment, 
and accordingly Bishop Andrews, on June 2d, 1884, ap- 
pointed me to the Church which I have known so long, 
and which I love so well. Gratified that my task is finished, 
I now lay the result before you. I trust you will approve 
the attempt I have made to set up an humble way-mark 
on the path of time as a memorial, in some sense, of the first 
Centennial anniversary of that remarkable Church among 
whose laity you have so long stood, and which you have 
served in various official relations with so much zeal and 
devotion. My return to your pulpit gave me facilities for 
the completion of my undertaking, which otherwise I would 
not have enjoyed. 

I have followed the logical, rather than the chronological, 
method in the arrangement of my facts. Still I have not 
been indifferent to the order of time. Events, however, 
frequently have important relations independently of their 
chronological order, and that relation I have kept in view. 
This fact will be apparent in much of the book. 



6 



Prefatory. 



I have seen that the American Methodist Church, under the 
Superintendency of Francis Asbury, was scarcely any thing 
else than an organized revival. I have, therefore, written of 
it as a movement and work of God for the salvation of men. 

I have not been indifferent to the literary execution of this 
work, yet I claim for it but one thing, namely, that it con- 
tains illustrations, I might almost say sections, of our denomi- 
national history, which have not been incorporated into any 
of the previous histories of American Methodism, and por- 
tions of which have never before been printed. 

To many friends and strangers I am under special obliga- 
tions for important favors. I would especially and gratefully 
mention David Creamer, Esq., of Baltimore, whose co-opera- 
tion has been of inestimable value. Also the Rev. Dr. Drink- 
house, of the same city; Mrs. Lee and Miss Colbert, daughters 
of the Rev. William Colbert ; B. Major, Esq., Petersburg, 
Virginia ; President Stephens, of Adrian College ; Miss Sadie 
Clegg, and the Rev. Dr. J. T. Ward. I also acknowledge the 
aid afforded me by Professor Wilbert Ferguson, of Adrian 
College, and F. S. Petter, Esq., of Jersey City. I am in- 
debted to my friend, Bishop Merrill, for an important con- 
tribution. Bishop Walden, also, has placed me under obli- 
gation by his courtesy. Last, but not least, I mention my 
great indebtedness to my friend of many years, the Rev. 
Henry A. Buttz, D.D., President of Drew Theological Semi- 
nary. But for the large and generous kindness of Dr. Buttz 
my work, in its present form, could scarcely have been issued 
at this time. To a number of other persons, who have 
kindly helped me, I am sincerely grateful. 

And now, my dear friends, I offer this product of my hum- 
ble pen to you, to Methodism, and to the Church of Jesus 
Christ, of which Methodism is an important part. May God, 
to whom I adoringly consecrate it, accept it, and use it in 
the service of the kingdom of his dear Son. 

Affectionately yours in the Gospel of Christ, 

John Atkinson. 

Trinity, Jersey City, November 18, 1884. 



CONTENTS. 



Chapter Page 
Introduction 9 

I. The Christmas Conference 19 

II. Who were Members of the Christmas Conference? 34 

III. Mr. Wesley's Relation to the New Church 51 

IV. The Superintendency or Episcopate 85 

V. Advance of the New Church from Baltimore 109 

VI. Missionary Movements of the New Church 124 

VII. The Old Itinerancy 135 

VIII. The Sunday-School in Methodism 171 

IX. The New Church and Education 186 

X. The Pentecost of Methodism 218 

XI. Powerful Revivals in 1789 and 1790 230 

XII. Francis Asbury 248 

XIII. John Dickins, the Founder of the Book Concern 308 

XIV. The New Church in New England 333 

XV. Thomas Coke 344 

XVI. Richard Whatcoat 361 

XVII. The Preachers of ihe Christmas Conference. , .... 371 



8 Contents. 

Chapter Page 
XVIII. James O'Kelly and the First General Conference of the 

New Church 434 

XIX. The New Church in the West 450 

XX. General Conferences of 1792 and 1796 461 

XXL General Conference and Kevival of 1800 467 

XXII. The Old Camp-meetings 485 

XXIII. The General Conference of 1804 509 

XXIV. Close of Asbury's Superintendent 514 

Appendix : 

A. Methodism in the Cities of the United States 519 

A Table of Comparisons 521 

B. Education in the Methodist Episcopal Church 528 

Washington Charles De Pauw 530 

General Index 541 



INTRODUCTION. 



Rise of Methodism in America. 

THE persons whom God honored to introduce Wesley- 
anism in America are known, and must be held in 
everlasting remembrance. The time of its first introduc- 
tion is not certainly known. Whether Robert Strawbridge 
preached and formed a society in Maryland before Philip 
Embury began to preach in New York, is a question 
which has not yet been determined by thoroughly au- 
thenticated dates. The date of the beginning of Em- 
bury's work — 1766 — is sufficiently clear. That relating to 
Strawbridge, and the first society which he formed in 
Maryland, is not so certain. The introductory sketch of 
the Rise of Methodism in this country, which appeared in 
the early editions of the Discipline, gives no precise date 
respecting the origin of the first society in Maryland. 
It indicates that, in the view of its authors, Embury's 
work was begun before that of Strawbridge. Asbury, 
however, by a remark in his Journal, in 1801, gives histor- 
ical precedence to the Maryland society. 

It is certain that Methodist preaching was begun in New 
York by Philip Embury, and in Maryland by Robert 
Strawbridge. To those Wesleyan local preachers the honor 
of organizing the first societies in this country belongs 
without dispute. The question of the priority of the work 
of the one or the other is still debated, and will, no doubt, 
continue undetermined unless better authenticated dates 
respecting the origin of the society in Maryland than have 
heretofore been produced shall be brought to light. 



10 



Introduction. 



The evidence which has been relied upon to show that 
Strawbridge preached in Maryland before Embury com- 
. menced preaching in New York is, in part, given by Will- 
iam Fort as follows : \ 

" I am in possession of documents which date the con- 
version of John Evans in 1764. From those papers I 
learn, as well as from other sources, that Mr. Strawbridge 
lived on the farm now occupied by Mr. Jacob Keim, and 
that the neighbors were in the habit of going to plow his 
ground and sow his seed gratuitously while he was absent 
from home preaching the Gospel. On one of those occa- 
sions John Evans had a conversation with Mrs. Straw- 
bridge on the subject of religion which resulted in his 
conversion. His house was then opened for preaching, 
and so continued for more than forty years. As early as 
1762 or 1763 Strawbridge was not only preaching, but 
baptizing, in Frederick County. He had an appointment 
regularly at John Maynard's, who was then a Methodist ; 
and at one of those appointments, in 1762 or 1763, he bap- 
tized Henry Maynard, who died in 1837. Tradition says 
that Strawbridge was ordained by a German minister, in 
all probability by Mr. Benedict Swoope, who then resided 
in that region." * 

If the dates given by Mr. Fort can be authenticated by 
indisputable documentary authority, then it will appear 
that Robert Strawbridge, and not Philip Embury, was the 
founder of Methodism in the United States. Unfortu- 
nately Mr. Fort, who published the above statement forty 
years ago, failed to exhibit the character and authenticity 
of the documents upon which he professed to base his claim 
of the priority of the work of Strawbridge. 

It is remarkable that the early preachers, and especially 
Asbury, did not sufficiently appreciate the historical im- 
portance of the question whether or not Embury or Straw- 
bridge began the Methodist movement in America as to 

*" Christian Advocate and Journal,' 1 July 10, 1844.. 



Introduction. 



11 



leave it settled beyond doubt. How easily might the Rev. 
William Colbert have determined it by the testimony of 
Mrs. Strawbridge ! In the early part of 1792 Mr. Colbert 
was traveling Harford Circuit, Maryland, and on the 24th 
of February, of that year, he wrote the following in his 
Journal : 

" Visited Sister Strawbridge, the widow of one of the 
first Methodist preachers that appeared in America." Mrs. 
Strawbridge could doubtless have given Colbert the year 
of her husband's arrival in Maryland, and one line in his 
Journal would have preserved the date. 

As the case stands, New York will continue to claim 
precedence as to time. Should Maryland fully establish 
the dates which she claims, she will stand forth as the ear- 
liest field of American Methodism as she is of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church. 

The society formed by Mr. Embury in New York was 
the means of calling Mr. Wesley's attention to the need of 
laborers in America, and he sent hither, in response to 
earnest appeals from that city, two missionaries in 17G9. 
These were Richard Board man and Joseph Pilmoor. Mr. 
Wesley also sent with them to the New York society fifty 
pounds sterling. 

In the year 1771 Francis Asbury and Richard Wright 
were appointed to re-enforce the work. Thomas Rankin and 
George Shadford followed in 1773. Two local preachers 
also came over who were useful in extending the cause and 
who became itinerant laborers. These were Robert Will- 
iams and John King. The latter introduced Methodism 
in Baltimore. 

The local ministry were not only the founders of the 
Methodist movement in the land of its largest achieve- 
ments, but they have been conspicuously useful throughout 
the history of the denomination in edifying the Church by 
their devoted labors, which were generally performed with- 
out pecuniary reward. The practical and sagacious Asbury, 



12 



Introduction. 



in the days of the severe struggles of the young Church, 
appreciated the usefulness and felt the necessity of main- 
taining the local ministry. ." He would earnestly and em- 
phatically say in the Annual Conferences that they were 
the body-guards of the cause." * 

Thomas Bell, a Methodist mechanic from England, was 
in New York in 1769, and in a letter to an English friend, 
dated May 1, of that year, he gives the following picture of 
Methodism in that city. He says : " When I came to New 
York I found that our business was not very plentiful for 
strangers. Though there is a good deal of business in the 
town, it is entirely overstocked with trades-people ; but 
what added most to my satisfaction was, I found a few of 
the dear people of God in it. There is one Mr. Emmery, 
[Embury,] one of our preachers that came from Ireland 
nine years ago. Lately there were two that came from 
Dublin. They have met together and their number has 
increased, and they have built a large new house, costing 
them £600 sterling. They are very poor in this world. 
They expect assistance from England, but I often used to 
tell them they need not ; for many of the people of En- 
gland were very poor themselves ; and they that had this 
world's goods did not care to part with them. There is 
another of our preachers who was a captain in the army. 
He was convinced of the truth before he left England. 
His name is Webb. God has been pleased to open his 
mouth. So the Lord carries on a very great work by these 
two men. They were, however, sore put to it in building 
their house. They made several collections about the 
town for it. They went to Philadelphia and got part of 
the money there. I wrought upon it six days." f 

There are mistakes in some of the earlier historical 
works of the denomination respecting the identity and his- 
tory of two of its chief founders in the city of New York. 

* "Wesleyan Repository," vol. ii, pp. 31*7, 318. 
f "Arminian Magazine," 1807, pp. 45, 46. 



Introduction. 



18 



A statement corrective of this important passage in 
American Methodist history is kindly furnished by Bishop 
Merrill, at the request of the author of this volume, and is 
here inserted as an important contribution to the histor- 
ical literature of the Church. Bishop Merrill says : 

The true account of the honored persons instrumental 
in planting Methodism in New York has not yet ap- 
peared in any history of Methodism in this country. It is 
not strange that the traditions respecting these should be- 
come in a measure obscure with the lapse of years, and 
finally uncertain and contradictory. Such, indeed, lias 
been the case with the accounts given of the " mother of 
American Methodism," Mrs. Barbara Heck. The popu- 
lar impression has been that she was a widow at the time 
she made her famous appeal to Mr. Embury, and stirred 
him up to duty, and displayed such commendable zeal in 
gathering the congregation for the first Methodist sermon 
in New York. This impression, however, is erroneous, and 
lias led to numerous mistakes and misapprehensions in re- 
gard to persons, names, and events in connection with 
these early transactions. 

The author of that popular work, " Lost Chapters Re- 
covered from the Early History of American Methodism," 
the Rev. J. B. Wakeley, following the prevalent tradi- 
tion, represented Paul Heck, who was one of the original 
Board of Trustees of the John Street society, as the son of 
Barbara Heck, and ascribes to him impossible actions, and 
a subsequent history and family relations to which he was 
a total stranger. He also very strangely follows the tradi- 
tion which changes the family name into Hick, and de- 
scribes the original Barbara as spending her life in ob- 
scurity and poverty in the city of New York, where he 
supposes she ultimately died and was buried. His lan- 
guage is, " Mrs. Hick died many years ago in the triumphs 
of our holy religion, and was buried in Trinity Church-yard 



14 



Introduction. 



in New York." It need not be doubted that some one 
whose name was Mrs. Hick — and for all we know it might 
have been Barbara Hick — thus lived and died in New 
York, and was buried in Trinity Church-yard ; but that the 
Mrs. Barbara Heck, who is so justly styled the " mother 
of American Methodism," spent her life in New York, and 
died and was buried there, is not true in any particular. 
In other words, Mrs. Barbara Heck was not a Avidow at 
the period in question ; Paul Heck, the original trustee, 
was not her son, but her lawful husband ; she did not live 
and die in New York, and was not buried in Trinity 
Church-yard ; and her family name was never any thing 
other than Heck. 

That persons of such eminent worth and so intimately 
related to the beginning of Methodism in this country 
should drop into obscurity, so that their real history has 
been lost to the Church, has long been a mystery, and the 
occasion of no little speculation ; but, fortunately, the 
facts have come into the writer's possession from trust- 
worthy sources, and are now for the first time given to the 
public in this permanent form. 

Paul Heck, and Barbara, his wife, came to this country 
from Ireland about 1760. Having been subjects of the 
British government in the old country, before and after 
their conversion, and having come to New York under the 
protection of the British flag, they were in heart loyal to 
God and their king ; and when the Revolutionary War be- 
gan, and its turbulent waves dashed about the city of their 
adoption, they quietly retired, as did Embury, and some 
others of the original class, and settled at Salem, in the 
State of New York, and formed the first Methodist soci- 
ety in that section. Mr. Paul Heck, the husband of Bar- 
bara, entered the British army under Burgoyne, whether 
by constraint or willingly we know not, nor does it mat- 
ter, as the fact is all that concerns us. At the time that 
General Burgoyne's army was surrendered to the Ameri- 



Introduction. 



15 



cans, Mr. Heck was at home on furlough, visiting his 
family, when his presence was discovered by some patriot 
soldiers, who arrested him, and started to convey him to 
General Washington's camp as a prisoner of war. On their 
way they stopped at night in an unoccupied farm-house, 
where they wrapped themselves in their blankets and went 
to sleep on the floor, with their prisoner between them. 
Mr. Heck did not sleep as soundly as did his captors, but 
got up in the night without disturbing them, and left the 
house and went into the woods. Of course he did not re- 
turn to his home, and he could not rejoin his regiment, 
now prisoners of war, and so he made his way into Canada, 
which was the most natural thing for him to do under the 
circumstances. In the meantime Philip Embury, who 
had removed from New York city with the Hecks, had 
died, and his widow was married to a Mr. Lawrence, of the 
same Methodist society. As soon as practicable Mr. Heck 
sent for his family, and his wife and children, with the 
Lawrences, and some others of the first Methodists, went 
into Canada and settled at Augusta, where again they 
formed a Methodist class, so that these same persons origi- 
nated Methodism in three different centers. 

This statement I took from the lips of John Heck, Esq., 
now living in Lockport, Illinois, who is the grandson of 
Paul and Barbara Heck, and the only living person who 
was present and witnessed the death and burial of his grand- 
mother, the veritable Christian woman, who, under God, 
was the mother of Methodism on this continent. The 
gentleman who gives this testimony, John Heck, the grand- 
son of Paul and Barbara Heck, is now [November, 1884] 
living at Lockport, Illinois. He is a well-preserved gentle- 
man, beyond fourscore, intelligent, upright, and highly es- 
teemed; he is a communicant in the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church, though a warm friend to the Methodists, 
and is in every respect worthy of the utmost confi- 
dence. He remembers distinctly his grandmothers death. 



16 



Introduction. 



was present when she died, saw her buried, and grew 
to manhood in the vicinity of her grave. The proofs 
in his possession of the correctness of his statements are 
entirely satisfactory, although nothing beyond his word 
would be required by any one who knows him. I have 
had the pleasure of being a guest in his elegant home, and 
have been much interested in the details of the family 
history of his grandparents, while enjoying his hospital- 
ity. Paul Heck died at Augusta, Canada, toward the 
close of the last century, a Methodist and Christian as 
long as he lived, and respected and honored in the com- 
munity where he lived, died, and was buried. His wife, 
Barbara, survived him several years, and died A.D. 1804, 
and was buried by the side of her husband, and there their 
graves remain unto this day. 

That the tradition given in the " Lost Chapters " is incor- 
rect, will appear plain to every one upon the slightest in- 
vestigation. Mr. Wakeley tells us, truly enough, that Paul 
Heck (not Hick, as he writes it) was one of the original 
trustees of the John Street Methodist society as early as 
1768. In proof of this he gives a copy of the original 
lease of ground from Mary Barclay, and the executors 
of the estate of her husband, to the trustees of said 
society, and the name of Paul Heck is in the list of 
that Board of Trustees. He is also shown to have been 
an active member of the Board, superintending the work 
on the preaching-house, negotiating for the ground, re- 
ceipting for material for the building, and contributing to 
the funds. The fac-simile of his handwriting is given, 
showing him to have been experienced with the pen ; 
so that, as early as 1768, he must have been a man of 
mature age and judgment, occupying a position of trust 
which required skill and experience. But, according to 
Mr. "Wakeley's position and statements, he was at that time 
a youth of sixteen ! 

Mr. Wakeley makes the statement that he was the son of 



Introduction. 



17 



Barbara Heck; that he was "appointed a class-leader 
soon after the Revolutionary War ;" that " for nearly thirty 
years he filled the office of a trustee in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church ;" and adds that he " filled both these 
offices to the day of his death." He furthermore tells us 
that "he died March 16, 1825, aged seventy-three years." 
Now look at this : He was a trustee nearly thirty years, 
and held that office to the day of his death. But thirty 
years backward from March 16, 1825, the day of his death, 
would not reach back to 1778, but only to 1795, leaving a 
gap of twenty-seven years ! Again, as above remarked, if 
he was trustee, as Mr. Wakeley proves, in 1778, and died 
March 16, 1825, as Mr. Wakeley asserts, and had been a 
member of the Methodist society fifty-five years, as 
Mr. Wakeley also states, then he was a trustee of the 
Methodist society two years before he was a Meth- 
odist. He must have been a remarkable youth to have 
been an active trustee, contributing three pounds and 
ten shillings to the preaching-house, and doing so much 
for the cause, before he was a Methodist, and at the age 
of sixteen ! The absurdity of all this is apparent at first 
glance. 

The truth is, Mr. Wakeley has confounded two men of 
the same name, and ascribes to one the deeds of the other. 
In the list of subscribers to the original building fund, as 
given in the " Lost Chapters," there appears the name of 
Jacob Heck, contributing one pound. This Jacob was a 
distant relative to Paul Heck, and came from the same 
place in the old country, and settled in New York about 
the time that Mr. Embury began preaching. It is not at 
all impossible that his wife's name was Barbara, although 
on this point we have no evidence, and he, no doubt, had a 
son, Paul, a lad of fourteen when Methodist preaching was 
established in 1766. This young Paul, who was neither 
the husband nor son of the original Barbara Heck, was 
probably converted in 1770, and subsequently married Han- 



18 



Introduction. 



nah Dean, and filled tlie offices of class-leader and trustee 
till the day of his death, March 16, 1825. 

In regard to the mooted question as to whether the 
name of the founders of Methodism should be Heck or 
Hick, I only deem it important to direct attention to the 
fac-simile of Mr. Heck's signature, as given several times, 
with unvarying accuracy, in the " Lost Chapters," (written 
in 1769, as follows :) 

(Written in 1769.) 

In a foot-note, in his w History of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church," Dr. Bangs refers to Mrs. Barbara Heck in 
these words : " The name of this pious woman was Hick, 
the mother of the late Paul Hick, who became a member 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church in his youth, and was 
subsequently a class-leader and trustee, in which offices he 
continued to near the close of his life, and finally died in 
the triumphs of faith in the seventy-fourth year of his 
age." This Mr. Hick was the same mentioned by Mr. 
Wakeley, but was not, and could not have been, the orig- 
inal Paul Heck, who was trustee in 1768. In this particu- 
lar both these authors were strangely misled, and gave ut- 
terance to the absurdity of making a lad of sixteen one of 
the most important officials and active agents in founding 
Methodism in New York, and that, too, before he was 
himself a Methodist. 



CENTENNIAL HISTORY 

OF 

AMERICAN METHODISM. 



CHAPTEE I. 

THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE. 

IN a plain meeting-house in Lovely Lane, in Baltimore, 
there assembled on the day before Christmas, in the 
year 1784, a unique company of men. They were plainly 
attired, and most of them bore the marks of service and 
exposure. They were mostly young men — but few, in- 
deed, had reached middle life. 

At the call of heralds, one of whom rode over twelve 
hundred miles in about six weeks to summon them to- 
gether, they had come on horse and saddle-bags from the 
Middle States, and from a portion of the South. Most of 
them had traveled far, and had spent days in making the 
journey, amid the blasts of late December. 

Few of them could be called polished or cultured 
men. They were, however, men of thought and men of 
purpose. They were marked by a serene dignity of mien 
and calm earnestness of spirit. They were eminently men 
of action. They had entered into a Christian movement, 
called Methodism, which about twenty years before appeared 
in feebleness and obscurity on this continent. Through 
that movement they learned the way of salvation by faith, 
and were led into the experience of sins forgiven. By that 



20 



Centennial History of 



movement they were thrust forth as wandering preach- 
ers of the great salvation. To that movement they had 
devoted themselves by holy vows ; and in the face of 
derision, toil, and danger, they had gone forth, like 
the Master they served, homeless, and without where to 
lay their heads. One of them* had written to Mr. Wes- 
ley a few months before : " The present preachers suffer 
much ; being often obliged to dwell in dirty cabins, to 
sleep in poor beds, and for retirement to go into the woods. 
But we must suffer with, if we labor for, the poor." 
Some of them, like Paul and Silas, had suffered imprison- 
ment and stripes for the sake of the Gospel. Their chief 
leader was Francis Asbury, who as he met hardship, and at 
times almost starvation in his laborious travels, exclaimed : 

" In hope of that immortal crown, 

I now the cross sustain ; 
And gladly wander up and down, 

And smile at toil and pain." 

And they were all like-minded. Asbury, in those words of 
Charles Wesley, expressed their, as well as his, feeling. 

Now they were assembled in Baltimore, a band of heroes 
as true and noble as ever toiled for God and man. One 
who was there says, " There were in that assembly a 
goodly number of very wise men, for lo, they had turned 
many, very many, to righteousness." f Another who waft 
present says : " Perhaps such a number of holy, zealous, 
godly men never met together in Maryland before.";}: 
Dr. Coke, who was there as the embassador of the 
father of the Methodist family, bore a letter from Mr. 
Wesley, which set forth that inasmuch as the American 
provinces had been totally disjoined from the British 
Empire, and become independent States, and as there 

* Asbury, in letter dated March 20, 1784, and published in "Arminian 
Magazine," 1786. 

f The Rev. T. "Ware, in " Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xiv. 
% William Black, "Arminian Magazine," 1791, p. 411. 



American Methodism. 



21 



were no Bishops in America, and but few clergymen 
of the Church of England; and as therefore the holy 
sacraments could not be administered to the extent re- 
quired by the societies, he did not scruple to appoint Dr. 
Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury to be joint superintend- 
ents of the Methodists in America. 

In that humble meeting-house, which was without a 
stove, and the seats in which were without backs, until, in 
the language of Dr. Coke, the " friends in Baltimore were 
so kind as to put up a large stove and to back several of 
the seats," for their comfort, that remarkable company of 
men sat in Conference, under the presidency of Coke and 
Asbury, to receive and act upon the communications made 
to them by Mr. Wesley through his chosen representative. 

The overture of Mr. Wesley was heard by the Con- 
ference in Lovely Lane with gladness. The members 
congratulated each other upon the welcome intelligence 
conveyed to them by Dr. Coke. The most reliable his- 
torical documents indicate that on the day that they as- 
sembled they adopted a resolution to organize a Church. 
The discussion of that resolution was, therefore, brief. The 
need of better order than the societies had previously en- 
joyed was strongly felt. Again and again had Mr. Wesley 
been addressed on the subject of the necessity of an or- 
dained clergy to administer the sacraments. Asbury says, 
"Mr. Wesley was called for near twelve or thirteen years 
repeatedly, to do something for his people in America."* 
Wesley was a loyal churchman, and therefore was slow to 
subvert the order of the Church. Consequently the 
American Methodists became discontented. They could 
not appreciate the reasons assigned why the men whose 
ministry had led them to Christ should be forbidden to 
administer to them Christ's ordinances. In Virginia the 
Conference proceeded to solve the difficulty by appoint- 
ing a committee who ordained one another, and then 

* Bishop Asbury's Valedictory Address. 



22 



Centennial History of 



administered the sacraments. This course was strongly 
opposed by Asbury, who was a decided Episcopalian. 
With him agreed most of the Northern preachers. A rup- 
ture was threatened. Mediators were sent to the South- 
ern Conference to see if the division could be averted. 
At first the mission promised no good results. At last 
brotherly love and forbearance triumphed amid prayers 
and tears, and the Virginia preachers consented to suspend 
the sacraments for a year, taking measures to have their 
cause placed before Mr. Wesley meanwhile.* 

The case was, indeed, momentous. Most of the Episco- 
pal clergy, to which Church many of the Methodists con- 
sidered themselves as belonging, were destitute of personal 
godliness. Some of them were charged to their face by 
one of their number, who was devout, with the use of 
cards, dice, etc., and with allowing laymen to swear, unre- 
buked, in their presence. Intoxication was not rare among 
them, and one of them is described as being carried after 
dinner to his gig by servants and there tied to prevent him 
from falling out, while a servant conducted him to his 
home in a state of drunkenness.f The Hev. Devereux 
Jarratt, a zealous clergyman of the Church of England, in 
writing to Mr. Wesley, in 1773, said concerning the clergy 
in Virginia : " We have ninety -rive parishes in the colony, 
and all except one, I believe, are supplied with clergymen. 
But, alas ! you will understand the rest. I know of but 
one clergyman of the Church of England who appears to 
have the power and spirit of vital religion. All seek their 
own, and not the things that are Christ's. Is not our situ- 
ation then truly deplorable? "{ It is not strange that a 
band of men and women who were in deep earnest about 
their souls' salvation should object to being denied the 

* The embassy to the Southern- Conference consisted of Asbury, Watters, 
and Garrettson. 

f Bennett's "Memorials of Methodism in Virginia." 
% "Artniman Magazine," 1786, p. 397.. 



American Methodism. 



23 



sacraments of Christ, except they received them from un- 
cleansed hands. 

The clergy of the Church of England were loyalists, and 
most of them left the country during the war of the Revo- 
lution. Consequently the Methodists, and especially those 
in the South, could not in many instances reach an or- 
dained minister except by traveling afar ; and if found, he 
was likely to be such as a Christian of tender conscience 
and strict fidelity would shrink from approaching at the 
altar. 

The difficulty concerning the sacraments, and the divis- 
ion of action resulting therefrom, was so grave, that the es- 
cape of the Methodist societies from a disastrous rupture 
seemed only due to providential interposition. Asbury 
thought that twenty preachers and three thousand people 
would have been involved in the disaster had it happened ; 
"but," he said, "the Lord would not suffer this." Drom- 
goole, who joined the embassy from the North in their 
effort to restore harmony, wrote to Wesley some time sub- 
sequently : "The Lord has effectually healed our divisions, 
and we are now more firmly united than ever." Yet 
Thomas Ware records his opinion that the influence of 
Asbury, great as it was, could not much longer have re- 
strained the preachers from administering the sacraments. 

With all these facts fresh in their memories, it is not 
strange that the members of the Christmas Conference 
hailed with joy the letter of Mr. Wesley, which contained 
his plan for giving them the sacraments, and at the same 
time two superintendents. It was promptly " read, ana- 
lyzed, and cordially approved." * Neither is it strange that 
so quickly, and with perfect unanimity, the Conference 
proceeded to take such important action. The decision of 
the preachers was in a spirit befitting their sublime voca- 
tion. There was no jealously, no strife. Companions in 
heroic labor, seeking nothing but the glory of God and 

* The Rev. T. Ware, in " Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xiv, 1832. 



24 



Centennial History of 



the welfare of his kingdom, their deliberations were con- 
ducted in the sweetness of love. One of their number 
says that throughout the session not an unkind word was 
spoken either in public or private, neither was " an unbroth- 
erly emotion felt ; Christian love predominated, and un- 
der its influence we kindly thought and sweetly spoke the 
same." With entire unanimity they gave the name Meth- 
odist Episcopal to the Church they founded. 

According to the recollection of that occasion retained 
to advanced age by Thomas Ware, the preacher who sug- 
gested the name of the Church was John Dickins, an En- 
glishman by birth, and probably the ablest man upon the 
floor of the Conference. He was also the first to learn 
from Coke after his arrival the nature of his mission, and 
he was the near friend of Asbury. Ware, whose recollec- 
tions furnish some of the most important data for a correct 
view of that great Conference, informs us that " Dr. Coke 
was in favor of taking the name Methodist Episcopal 
Church," and "argued that the plan of General Superin- 
tendency was in fact a species of episcopacy."* Asbury, as 
the action in the Conference of his friend Dickins would 
suggest, was doubtless in accord with Coke as to the name 
of the Church, and it is not strange, therefore, that Coke's 
speech in favor of that name should have controlled the 
decision of the preachers, whose inexperience would 
lead them to defer to the opinions of those who sur- 
passed them as much in knowledge as in years. Besides, 
Coke, no doubt, spoke persuasively, for Ware, nearly half 
a century subsequently, said of him : " He was the best 
speaker on a Conference floor I ever heard." 

Francis Asbury declined the appointment of superin- 
tendent from Wesley, but he expressed a willingness to 
accept it from his brethren of the ministry. For over 
thirteen years he had been in this country and had traveled 

* Letter of Thomas Ware, December, 1828, published in w Defense of 
Truth," Baltimore. 1829. 



American Methodism. 



25 



and labored like an apostle. "When he came to America 
the societies were but few, and not half a score of houses 
of worship did the Methodists possess on the continent. 
When, nearly two years after his arrival, the first Confer- 
ence was held, only one thousand one hundred and sixty 
members were reported. With that feeble and obscure 
band, scattered from New York to Virginia, he fully allied 
himself. When the storm of the Revolution burst upon 
the country he stood firmly at his post, notwithstanding 
every other preacher who came from England fled. Some 
of them found it necessary to go because of their utter- 
ances respecting the war. Wesley himself expressed opin- 
ions on that subject which, while they showed his loyalty 
to the government of which he was a subject, seriously 
embarrassed his laborers here. This Asbury regretted, say- 
ing, that he was " truly sorry that the venerable man ever 
dipped into the politics of America." He shows the effect 
of Mr. Wesley's attitude with respect to the war by the 
further statement that " some inconsiderate persons have 
taken occasion to censure the Methodists in America on 
account of Mr. Wesley's political sentiments." Mr. Drew, 
in his " Life of Dr. Coke," says that Wesley " very warmly 
espoused the cause of England, and reprobated the conduct 
of the colonies." 

It is not singular that the preachers sent by Mr. Wesley 
to- this country should have followed the example of 
their chief. By doing so they encountered both difficulty 
and peril. One of them, and he the first in authority under 
Wesley, namely, Thomas Rankin, fled from his post in Sep- 
tember, 1777, and entered within the lines of the British. 
After reaching Philadelphia, which was in their possession, 
he declared from the pulpit his belief " that God would not 
revive his work in America until they submitted to their 
rightful sovereign, George III." * Rankin had previously 
been very positive that the Americans should be imme- 

* Ware, in " Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xiv, 1S32. 

2 



26 



Centennial History of 



diately reduced to subjection to the English government. 
He sought to get the British preachers away to England. 
" It appeared to me," says Asbury, " that his object was to 
sweep the continent of every preacher that Mr. Wesley sent 
to it, and of every respectable traveling preacher from Eu- 
rope who had graduated among us, whether English or Irish. 
He told us that if we returned to our native country, we 
should be esteemed as such obedient, loyal subjects, that we 
should obtain ordination in the grand Episcopal Church of 
England, and come back to America with high respectability 
after the war was ended." Asbury, however, was not se- 
duced away by such fanciful views. He was true to Amer- 
ica as well as to American Methodism. He sayg, " Abun- 
dance of respectable members said, 6 Will you leave us % 
Will you leave us ? ' " He adds, however, that " it was the 
general language of the American people and preachers, 
that those preachers from Europe who were dissatisfied 
with the measures of the country had better go home."* 

Martin Rodda, another preacher from England, published 
the king's proclamation over his circuit, and only by fleeing 
to the British fleet in the Chesapeake did he escape from 
death. f Such conduct caused persecution to break forth 
upon the Methodists. Several of the native preachers 
were imprisoned. Asbury, as an Englishman, was specially 
obnoxious to suspicion. He found it necessary to go into 
retirement, and accepted a retreat from turbulence and dan- 
ger in the home of Judge Thomas White, in Delaware. 
Neither turbulence, nor filial affection, J nor peril could 
induce him to desert what he believed was his divinely ap- 
pointed field of labor. Amidst the tumult he exclaimed : 
" Three thousand miles from home — my friends have left 
me — I am considered by some as an enemy of the country 

* Asbnry's letter to the Rev. Joseph Benson, 
f "Life of G-arrettson," p. 65. 

\ Asbury was the only surviving child of his parents, who were then living 
in England, 



American Methodism. 



27 



— every day liable to be seized by violence and abused ; 
however, all this is but a trifle to suffer for Christ and 
the salvation of souls." Thus unmoved and undaunted 
Asbury maintained his apostolate in the new world. 

Now he was bound by ties formed of sacrifice and suf- 
fering to the young Church. To it he gladly gave his all. 
He, however, was unwilling to preside over it as chief pas- 
tor under the authority and by the appointment of a man 
who dwelt beyond the sea, and who might, at his pleasure, 
recall him to England. His brethren well knew his worth, 
and his capacity to serve them as their leader. One of 
them, who was a member of this historic Conference, more 
than a year previously had written to Mr. Wesley : " The 
preachers at present are united to Mr. Asbury, and esteem 
him very highly in love for his work's sake, and earnestly 
desire his continuance on the continent during his natural 
life ; and to act as he does at present, to wit, to superin- 
tend the whole work and go through all the circuits once a 
year. He is now well acquainted with the country, with 
the preachers, and people, and has a large share in the 
affections of both; therefore they would not willingly part 
with him." * In selecting him for superintendent it is 
evident that Wesley knew that Asbury was the choice of 
the preachers in America for that responsible service. 
Accordingly, by the unanimous voice of the Conference, 
he was placed at the head of the itinerant ranks. On the 
twenty-seventh day of December, 1784, he was formally 
set apart by the imposition of the hands of Coke, Yasey, 
Whatcoat, and Otterbein, as General Superintendent of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. Coke preached on that 
impressive occasion, and he says, " The Lord, I think, was 
peculiarly present." Dr. Coke's appointment by Wesley 
to the same office was unanimously ratified. 

The Conference recognized two orders in the ministry, 

* Edward Dromgoole, letter to Wesley, May 24, 17 S3, "Amiinian Maga- 
zine," 1791. 



28 



Centennial History of 



namely, Deacon and Elder, or Presbyter, and Asbury was 
invested with both orders before his consecration to the 
office of Superintendent. Sixteen preachers were elected 
to orders, four of whom, being absent, were subsequently 
ordained. Doctrinal symbols and a liturgy, furnished by 
Wesley, were also accepted and adopted. 

Thus was organized the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
In the humble meeting-house in Lovely Lane, Baltimore, 
that body of holy men, scarcely exceeding half a hundred, 
laid in obscurity the foundations of a temple that has since 
covered the land, and whose walls are yet rising in the 
ends of the earth. 

During the session of the Conference Dr. Coke preached 
at noon each day, except on the ordination days, and the Sun- 
days, when the preaching hour was ten o'clock, and the serv- 
ice generally lasted four hours. There was a sermon by 
one of the preachers at six every morning. At six in the 
evening there was preaching at the " Point," at Otterbein's 
church, and in Lovely Lane. 

Who were the men who composed the Christmas Con- 
ference ? Great as was the work they did, sublimely beau- 
tiful as was the way they did it, there is no full record 
of their names. ISTo complete journal of that first and 
greatest General Conference of American Methodism has 
been transmitted to us. The men who composed the 
Conference went from near and far to Baltimore, and 
performed the great task that was given to them at 
that Christmas-tide, and then, careless about any luster 
being shed upon their names by what they had achieved, 
they returned to their arduous toils, content with the record 
they had made for Christ. The Christianity of the nine- 
teenth century, especially in America, has been largely 
affected, and even shaped, by what those men of God did 
at that Conference, and their assembly will, in all ages, be 
contemplated as one of the momentous crisai points in the 
history of the Christian Church ; yet the world knows hot, 



American Methodism. 



29 



and will never know, all the names of the men whose work 
at that Christmas Conference is invested with such vast 
moral grandeur. 

When the Conference concluded its work, a new eccle- 
siastical structure was reared. Previously, the American 
Methodists were a " people of God," yet, in a churchly 
sense, they were not " a people." Asbury, in his valedic- 
tory address, says it was in pleasantry said, " We were a 
Church and no Church." They were societies, subject to 
the government of Mr. Wesley. Their preachers were 
laymen, who, by the authority of Wesley, performed only 
certain functions of the Christian ministry. Hence the 
title of " lay preachers." 

Now the feeble and scattered bands of Methodists in 
America were joined together in an organization called 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, which possessed a creed, 
canons, liturgy, and clergy. It also had superintendents, 
who soon applied to themselves the more imposing title of 
Bishop.* The traveling system of preaching, called the 
itinerancy, which had distinguished Methodism from the 
beginning, was also retained. 

The new organization was accepted by the Christian 
world as a Church of Christ. It was composed of a body 
of faithful men. It accepted and administered the sacra- 
ments of Christ. It received the essential and ancient 
doctrinal tenets of Christendom, as embodied in an 
abridgment of the Thirty-nine Articles of the English 
Church. Its hymns and its liturgy, the latter being the 
Prayer Book of the Church of England, somewhat abridged, 
embodied the faith once delivered to the saints. That it 
was a Church, therefore, in every thing essential to consti- 
tute a Christian Church, none but those who strenuously 
insist upon prelacy could deny. 

It is true, that in the organization of the Church the 
laity had no direct voice. It may be said, however, that 
* Lee's "History of the Methodists," p. 128. 



30 



Centennial History of 



the men, by whom the Church was organized, were them- 
selves laymen, who, without ordination, acted as preach- 
ers. Asbury himself, the chief of the small preach- 
ing band, was, in an ecclesiastical sense, only a layman. 
Coke was the only regularly ordained minister who par- 
ticipated in the organization of the Church. His orders, 
like Wesley's, were received from the Church of England. 
Thomas Yasey and Richard Whatcoat, who were at the 
Conference, had been ordained by Wesley ; yet none would 
claim that their ordination was regular, according to the 
canons of the English Church. Wesley, as a clergyman 
of the Church of England, only claimed that he had re- 
ceived his "power" to thus ordain from "the Great 
Shepherd and Bishop of the Church." Consequently, 
up to the time of their ordination at the Christmas Con- 
ference, all the American preachers, Asbury included, were, 
as we have said, simply laymen who preached the Gospel. 

Notwithstanding, it must be allowed that the men who 
composed the body that erected the Methodist societies 
into a Church, were, in the common acceptation of the 
term, " preachers ; " and that the " laity," as such, had no 
formal representation. It must, however, be remembered 
that the societies and preachers had been subject to Mr. 
Wesley, and that Dr. Coke and his associates, Whatcoat 
and Yasey, came hither by Wesley's authority. Wesley 
would not, and never did, tolerate the laity in his governing 
councils. In a letter bearing the date of January 13, 1790, 
but little more than a year before his death, he wrote these 
emphatic words : "As long as I live, the people shall have 
no share in choosing either stewards, or leaders, among the 
Methodists. We have not, and never had, any such custom. 
We are no republicans, and never intend to be."* It could 
not be supposed, therefore, that Coke would have suggested 
or sanctioned any representation of the members of the 
societies in a Conference to which he bore messages and 

*Dr. Jennings's " Exposition," p. 92. 



American Methodism. 



31 



authority from the founder of Methodism. Asbury, who 
had long labored in America by Wesley's appointment, was, 
no doubt, in this particular in harmony with his chief. 
The American preachers, there is reason to think, believed 
that the system of itinerancy and lay representation were 
incompatible. Indeed, one of the members of that Confer- 
ence, the Rev. Thomas Ware, has left recorded the opin- 
ion, that had the people required representation, and se- 
cured it, they would thereby have incurred the grave re- 
sponsibility of destroying the itinerant preaching system. 
He further says, respecting the absence of the laity from 
that Conference, " We knew, and our people knew, that we 
were dependent on them for our bread, and that they could 
wield this check over us when they pleased. Such was our 
talk among ourselves, and among the most intelligent of 
our people. We assumed nothing; made no new terms of 
communion, save one on slavery." * 

The belief which Avas long prevalent, that the unique 
ministerial system of Methodism would be shattered by 
the admission of the laity into its governing councils, may 
in part account for the fact that they had no represen- 
tation in the General Conference which organized the 
Methodist Episcopal Church ; as well as for the further 
fact, that the Conference made no provision for their 
subsequent recognition in the legislative assemblies of the 
Church. 

One thing, however, should be known, namely, that, be- 
fore the Christmas Conference, the laity were consulted re- 
specting some of the matters which were there considered. 
Dr. Coke, as is shown by his Journal, published in the Phil- 
adelphia "Arminian Magazine" of the year 1789, coun- 
seled with the society in Philadelphia on the subject of the 
government by superintendents and an ordained clergy, 
before he met Mr. Asbury. On Sunday, [November 7, 
lTStt, Coke preached in Dr. M'Gaw's church, in Philadel- 

* "Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xiv, 1832, p. 99. 



32 



Centennial History of 



pliia, and " in the evening," lie says, " to a large congrega- 
tion in our own chapel, on the necessity of the witness of the 
Spirit ; after preaching I opened to the society our new 
plan of Church government, and I have reason to believe 
that they all rejoice in it." On December 2, 1784, Coke 
records a visit he made to the home of a Mr. Airey, who, he 
says, "was the grand supporter of the preachers in this 
country during the late contest." Of the views of Mr. 
Airey on the subject of his mission, Dr. Coke became in- 
formed, for he says, " Pie is a hearty supporter of the new 
plan." * These statements indicate that representative lay- 
men were consulted, and expressed their opinions concern- 
ing the new departure, before the Conference assembled. 

The members of the societies were prompt to ratify, by 
their approval, the work of the Conference. Leading 
authorities of the period assure us that the new Church or- 
ganization was hailed by the laity, throughout the country, 
with a universal expression of satisfaction and pleasure. 
New York v/as heartily in favor of the new order. Coke 
says of the Church there : " We expected that this society 
would have made the greatest opposition to our plan, but, 
on the contrary, they have been most forward to promote 
it. They have already put up a reading-desk, and railed 
in a communion table." f The first traveling preacher of 
American birth says that the change accomplished by the 
construction of a separate Church, " gave great satisfaction 
through all our societies." $ The first historian of the 
Church affirms that the Methodists were " heartily united 
together in the new plan, which the Conference had adopt- 
ed." § Bishop Asbury states that every heart leaped with 
joy, and " the members of society, and the congregations 

* This statement and that about the approval of the "*new plan " by the 
society in Philadelphia are omitted in the volume of Coke's Journals. 

| This statement is not in the volume of Coke's Journals. It is in his 
Journal in the u Arminian Magazine," (American.) June, 1*789. 

$ " Watters's Autobiography." p. 102. 

§ Lee's " History of the Methodists," p. 101. 



American Methodism. 



33 



in America, embraced our Church form and order." * 
Thus the work done at Baltimore, by the Christmas Con- 
ference, in the last days of the year 1781, was rendered 
abiding and effective, by the cordial concurrence therein 
of the ministry and laity of American Methodism ; and 
the strength of the foundation then laid is shown by the 
stability and grandeur of the superstructure. 

* Asbury's Valedictory Address. 



2* 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTER II. 



WHO WERE MEMBERS OF THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE ? 

r7"HO composed the Christmas Conference of 1784? 



V y That question, as we have seen, cannot now be fully 
answered. Forty-five years ago it could have been an- 
swered more perfectly than is now possible, because a few 
of its members were then alive, and had clear recollections 
of their fellow-members. Many persons, now living, have 
conversed with those venerable patriarchs who lingered so 
long behind their comrades in the early battles of the 
Church. Had they been questioned concerning the preach- 
ers who were present at that Conference, they could have 
given names, which their lips, now turned to dust, will 
never disclose. It is probable that the last survivor of the 
grand company of Methodist preachers who constituted 
that General Conference — one of the most important eccle- 
siastical assemblies that has been convened since the apos- 
tolic age — was Jonathan Forrest, of Maryland, who lived 
almost fifty-nine years after he participated in the organ- 
ization of the Church. 

The author of this volume has sought to secure a reli- 
able catalogue of the members of the Christmas Confer- 
ence. The Church which they organized has achieved 
so much, and has grown to a magnitude so vast, that they 
are entitled to be known and to be had in everlasting re- 
membrance. 

Lednum, in his " Rise of Methodism in America," gives 
the names of twenty-one preachers, including Coke and 
Asbury, who, he says, were certainly at the Christmas Con- 
ference. He, however, gives no indication of the evidence 
that they were there. A matter of such historical impor- 




American Methodism. 



35 



tance would hardly be settled without question, by the 
unsupported assertion of auy man, unless it were known 
that he was a member of the Conference, which Lednum 
was not. Dr. Stevens, in his " History of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church," accepts Lednum' s list as it stands, with- 
out change, and without question. It is no slight tribute 
to the accuracy of Lednum that documentary evidence 
has been found of the presence at that Conference of 
twenty out of twenty-one of the preachers who he says 
were certainly there. The one in Lednum's list of whose 
presence at the Conference no evidence has been obtained 
is Francis Poythress, and there is evidence which warrants 
the presumption that he was there. 

It is a singular fact, that neither Coke nor Asbury, in the 
volumes of their Journals, give any names of members of 
the Christmas Conference. The Journal of Dr. Coke, 
which was printed in Philadelphia in 17S9, and published 
in the "Arminian Magazine" (American) of that year, 
contains statements which show that certain preachers 
were members of that Conference whose presence there 
would otherwise be in doubt. Why those statements were 
eliminated from the volume of " Extracts of the Journals 
of the Rev. Dr. Coke's Five Yisits to America," published 
in London in 1793, is probably not known. Other very 
important facts concerning that pregnant period in Amer- 
ican Methodist history are given in the Journal of Coke's 
first visit to the United States, as published in the Phila- 
delphia " Arminian Magazine," in 1789, which are not 
found in the volume of his Journals. The Journal in the 
Magazine was published four years before the Journals in 
the volume, and only a little more than four years after the 
organization of the Church. It is doubtful whether many 
volumes of the Magazine, which contains Coke's Jour- 
nal, are now in existence, and those that are preserved have 
escaped the ravages of almost a century. To the preserva- 
tion of the volume of 1789, we are indebted for the iol 



36 



Centennial History of 



lowing information, by Dr. Coke, concerning certain 
members of the Christmas Conference : " One elder was 
elected for Antigua, Jeremiah Lambert ; two for Nova 
Scotia, Freeborn Garrettson and James O. Cromwell ; and 
ten for the States, John Tunnell, John Haggerty, James 
O'Kelly, Le Roy Cole, William Gill, Nelson Reed, Henry 
Willis, Reuben Ellis, Richard Ivey, and Beverly Allen. 
They also elected three deacons, John Dickins, Caleb Boyer, 
and Ignatius Pigman. Brothers Tunnell, Willis, and Allen, 
of the elected elders, were not present at the Conference ; 
nor Brother Boyer, of the deacons." 

Sixteen preachers are here named by Coke as having 
been elected to orders at and by the Christmas Conference. 
Of these, Tunnell, Willis, Allen, and Boyer, exactly one 
fourth of the whole, Coke says " were not present at the 
Conference." This statement is equivalent to a declaration 
that the others named were present. We are authorized, 
therefore, by the testimony of Dr. Coke, to include in the 
catalogue of the preachers who were at the Christmas 
Conference all whom he mentions as elders and deacons, 
except those whose absence he records. 

A catalogue of the names, and the evidence by which it 
is known that each name is that of a preacher who was a 
member of the Christmas Conference of lTStt, will now be 
given in alphabetical form : 

AsBrsY, Francis. — In the Journal of Dr. Coke in the 
Magazine, there is a brief, but important, passage not found 
in the volume of " Extracts of the Journals of the Five Yisits 
to America." It is in these words : " The Lord, I think, 
was peculiarly present while I was preaching my two pas- 
toral sermons ; the first when I ordained Brother Asbury a 
Bishop, the second when we ordained the elders." There 
is conclusive evidence in Asbury's Journal and elsewhere 
that he was present at the Christmas Conference. 

Black, William. — Mr. Black, in his Journal published 



American Methodism. 



37 



in the English " Arminian Magazine," in the volume of 
1791, (p. 411,) says: " On Thursday, 23, I arrived at 
Baltimore ; Friday, 24, our Conference began, and ended 
on January 1, 1785. Two preachers, Messrs. Garrettson 
and Cromwell, were appointed for Nova Scotia. They 
set off by way of New York, and I went, by water, to 
Hineah." These words of Black show that he was at the 
Christmas Conference. He had come from Nova Scotia to 
get laborers, and the preachers whom he names were sent 
to assist him in that field. 

Boyer, Caleb. — The Rev. Thomas Ware, in his Auto- 
biography, says : " Boyer was the Paul and Pigman 
the Apollos of the Methodist Connection at that time. 
When Whatcoat and Yasey heard them at the Christmas 
Conference they said they had not heard their ecpial in 
the British connection, except Wesley and Fletcher." 
This passage ought to determine the question of the mem- 
bership of both Boyer and Pigman in the Conference of 
17S4. But Dr. Coke says Boyer was not present. Coke 
may have only intended to signify that he was not present 
at the time of the ordination ; as it is in that connection 
he speaks of his absence ; or Boyer might have been there 
but a short time without the knowledge of Coke, who was 
a stranger. 

Cole, Le Roy. — The Rev. Henry Boehm says, in his 
Autobiography : " October 9, we rode to Winchester, 
capital of Clarke County, Kentucky, and were the guests 
of Le Roy Cole." Of Cole he says, among other things : 
" He was a member of the famous Christmas Conference, 
in Baltimore, where the Methodist Episcopal Church was 
organized in 17S4:" Mr. Boehm further adds : "We re- 
mained two days at Le Roy Cole's." Thus it is plain that 
Mr. Boehm had opportunity to know the truth of what he 
affirmed concerning Mr. Cole's relation to the famous first 
General Conference of American Methodism. (See also 
Coke's statement on page 36 of this volume.) 



38 



Centennial History of 



Coke, Thomas. — Dr. Coke's presence at the Christmas 
Conference is shown by a variety of decisive testimony. 
Were all other evidence lacking, the following title-page of 
the sermon preached by him on the occasion of the ordina- 
tion of Francis Asbury as superintendent, would suffice : 
" Substance of a Sermon preached at Baltimore, in the State 
of Maryland, before the General Conference of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, December 27, 1784, at the Ordination 
of the Rev. Francis Asbury to the office of Superintendent. 
By Thomas Coke, LL.D., Superintendent of said Church. 
Published at the desire of the Conference." The sermon 
is inscribed by its author to the Rev. Francis Asbury, and 
the inscription is dated " Baltimore, March 1, 1785." In his 
Journal, as it appears in the Philadelphia " Arminian Mag- 
azine," Dr. Coke, under date of Baltimore, Feb. 26-March 
6, 1785, says: "Here I have printed, according to the de- 
sire of the Conference, the substance of a sermon which I 
preached at the ordination of Brother Asbury to the office 
of a Bishop. It consists of two parts : 1st. A vindication 
of our conduct; 2d. The characteristics of a Christian 
Bishop." * 

Ceomwell, James O. — That Mr. Cromwell was present 
at the Christmas Conference is shown in the quotation 
from the Journal of Mr. Black under his name on the 
preceding page ; also by the statement of Dr. Coke, on 
page 36 of this volume, respecting the elders of the 
Christmas Conference. Jesse Lee, in his "History of the 
Methodists," gives an account of the Christmas Confer- 
ence, and says that " Mr. Garrettson and Mr. Cromwell 
were ordained for ISTova Scotia, and were sent there imme- 
diately afterward." 

Dickins, John. — That Mr. Dickins was a member of the 
General Conference of 1784 is attested by Thomas Ware, 
who (p. 106 of his Autobiography) says : " One proposed 

* There is no mention of Asbury's ordination in the volume of Coke's 
Journals. 



American Methodism. 



39 



— I think it was John Dickins — that we should adopt the 
title of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The motion, on 
Mr. Dickins's suggestion, was carried, without, I think, a 
dissenting voice.*' 

Dromgoole, Edward. — Mr. Dromgoole's presence at 
the Christmas Conference is shown by the testimony 
of the Rev. Alexander M'Caine, who was an eminent 
minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Mr. 
M'Caine received a classical education, and in January, 
1797, joined the American Methodist itinerancy. He 
early became accpiaintcd with Mr. Dromgoole, and, on the 
second of February, 1830, he wrote of him and of their 
friendship, thus: "My old friend and brother, Edward 
Dromgoole, now, perhaps, the oldest Methodist and the 
oldest Methodist preacher in the United States. O how 
many happy moments have I spent in his house, and in his 
company, when I traveled the circuit in which he lives, in 
1S03." * Mr. Dromgoole lived upward of thirty years 
after the time to which M'Caine refers in the above rem- 
iniscence. Their intimacy gave Mr. M'Caine abundant 
opportunity to know from Mr. Dromgoole's lips that 
he was a member of the great historic Conference of 
American Methodism. The testimony of Mr. M'Caine 
would, therefore, establish that fact if there was no other 
evidence. There is other evidence, however. In IS 29 
M'Caine published a pamphlet, entitled " The Defense of 
the Truth." From that work, (pp. SO and 81,) the follow- 
ing statement and letter are taken : 

" To confirm what I have said, respecting the preachers 
who composed the Conference of 1784, not understanding 
or believing that the recommendation of the prayer book 
was a recommendation of the Episcopal form of Church 
government, I shall subjoin the testimony of a few of 
those who were members of that Conference, and who have 
survived their fellow-laborers of that day, 

* " Mutual Rights and Christian Intelligencer," Baltimore, 1830, p. 142. 



40 



Centennial History of 



"Extract of a letter from Rev. Edward Dromgoole, 
dated Brunswick, 26 Sept., 1828 : 

" ' I do not recollect that there was any proposition for 
our receiving the prayer book and the Episcopacy con- 
nected. And it is certain the preachers never considered 
themselves obliged to conform to the prayer book, for they 
did not make use of it on Wednesdays and Fridays, as 
recommended. 

" 6 Yours very sincerely, 

" ' Edward Dromgoole, Sen.' " 

Ellis, Ira. — In Asbury's Journal (vol. iii, p. 180) is 
" A Sketch of the labors and travels of Ira Ellis," signed 
with his name. He there states that he was at the cele- 
brated General Conference of 1784, as the following ex- 
tract will show : " In the spring of 1784 I was stationed in 
Bertie Circuit. Six months I labored there ; one quarter 
in Camden ; and the last quarter, excepting the time spent 
in attending the General Conference in Baltimore, in 
Portsmouth Circuit." Leclnum does not place Mr. Ellis in 
his list, but it is certain he was at the Conference of 1784. 

Ellis, Reuben. — Mr. Ellis is one of the number who, ac- 
cording to Dr. Coke's statement, (see page 36,) was elected 
an elder at the Christmas Conference, and was present. 

Everett, Joseph. — The fact that Mr. Everett was a 
member of the Conference which organized the Church is 
attested by himself. He published an autobiographical 
narrative in the American "Arminian Magazine" of the 
year 1790, and, among many other facts of his per- 
sonal history, he there (p. 607) gi^es the following: 
" I was appointed at the next Conference to Fairfax 
Circuit, where I continued to labor till the Christmas 
Conference, when Dr. Coke came from England, and the 
Methodist Church separated from all connection or de- 
pendence on the Church of England or any other body or 



American Methodism. 



41 



society of people. From this Conference I was stationed 
in Berkley Circuit." 

Forrest, Jonathan. — That Mr. Forrest was a member 
of the Christmas Conference, Mr. M'Caine, in his " Defense 
of the Truth," affirms. He also introduces into that work, 
in connection with the letter of Mr. Dromgoole, the fol- 
lowing from Mr. Forrest : " As for what Mr. Emory has 
said respecting the recommendation of the prayer book, 
abridged by Mr. Wesley, being a recommendation of the 
Episcopal form of government for the American Meth- 
odist societies, I did not consider it in that light at the 
Conference of 1784. Nor have I considered it in that 
light at any time since, nor do I consider it in that light 
now. Nor do I believe it was so considered by any 
person in the Conference of 1784. 

" Jonathan Forrest." 

"Garrettson, Feeeboen. — In " The Experience and 
Travels of Mr. Freeborn Garrettson," Philadelphia, 1791, 
(p. 198,) he says : " It was concluded that I should go 
through the continent and call a Conference at Baltimore 
immediately. "Within six weeks, after traveling upward of 
twelve hundred miles, I settled the business, besides preach- 
ing almost every day once, and sometimes twice, and made 
my return. The preachers being gathered, our Conference 
began on Christmas -day,* and we acceded to the method 
proposed by Mr. Wesley." 

The Rev. Alexander M'Caine, who had a correspond- 
ence with Garrettson respecting the Christmas Confer- 
ence, states that he was a member of it. Dr. Bangs' s tes- 
timony is to the same effect. 

In his semi-centennial sermon, preached before the New 
York Conference, at its session, May, 1826, Mr. Garrett- 
son, speaking of the Christmas Conference, says : " From 

* The definite testimony of Asbury, Coke, Whatcoat, and Black fixes the 
date of the Conference December 24. 1184. 



42 



Centennial Histoey of 



this Conference my lot was cast in ISTova Scotia. I landed 
in Halifax, accompanied by James O. Cromwell." 

Gill, William. — The evidence that Mr. Gill was a mem- 
ber of the Christmas Conference is contained in the quota- 
tion from Dr. Coke's Journal, on page 30 of this volume. 

Glendenning, William. — Mr. Glendenning wrote a 
book, entitled " The Life of William Glendenning," 
which was published in Philadelphia in 1795. The 
Pev. Jesse Lee quotes from it thus : " He says, in 
pages 11 and 12: 'In 1784 I traveled in Brunswick, 
in the State of Virginia, where my mind got more and 
more darkened and I lost my sense of a reconciled God, 
and all spiritual comforts departed from me.' Page 13, 
at the Christmas Conference this year, ' They wanted me 
to go as a missionary to Nova Scotia, which I refused with 
warmth.' However, he was proposed for the elder's office, 
and he says, (p. 14,) < 1 was rejected from the eldership. 
The reason assigned was that I wanted gifts.' " * 

Green, Lemuel. — The Pev. Alexander M'Caine exer- 
cised his ministry in Philadelphia when Mr. Green was a 
resident of that city. Mr. M'Caine entered into the con- 
troversy which led to the organization of the Methodist 
Protestant Church. In the course of that controversy he 
wrote a pamphlet, which was published in 1827, in which 
he discussed some of the acts of the Christmas Conference. 
The pamphlet bore the title of "The History and Mys- 
tery of Methodist Episcopacy." In it is a letter which 
M'Caine says he sent to several ministers whom he names, 
all of whom he affirms were members of the Conference 
of 1784. Mr. Green was one of those ministers. As he 
was then living in Philadelphia, and Mr. M'Caine was, no 
doubt, personally and well acquainted with him, the pub- 
lication of his name by M'Caine, as one of the surviving 
members of the Christmas Conference, is proof that he 
was there. Besides, Dr. Emory, afterward Bishop, an- 
* Lee's "History of the Methodists." 



American Methodism. 



43 



swered M'Caine's pamphlet by writing " The Defense of 
our Fathers." M'Caine wrote a rejoinder to that work, 
entitled " The Defense of the Truth," which Emoiy also 
answered ; but in none of these writings was the statement 
by M'Caine, that Mr. Green was a member of the Conference 
of 1784 called in question. The fact that Mr. Green was 
a member of that Conference is stated on page 76 of the 
" History and Mystery." 

Haggerty, John. — In a memoir of Mr. Haggerty, print- 
ed in the " Methodist Magazine" of 1S24, which memoir 
was written by the Rev. Joshua Soule, who was soon after 
elected Bishop, it is said that Mr. Haggerty's appointment 
was Frederick in 1784, and also, " At the Conference of 
this year the preachers declared themselves an indepen- 
dent Church, and ordained Mr. Asbury Superintendent, and 
John Haggerty, Nelson Reed, and several others, Elders." 
Mr. Sonle adds that he " had the pleasure of Mr. Hagger- 
ty's acquaintance for many years during his life-time, and 
was favored to be with him in his dying hours." In a 
tribute to Haggerty in Sprague's "Annals of the American 
Pulpit," Mr. Soule says that he perused Mr. Haggerty's 
Journal after his decease. It is evident, therefore, that he 
spoke from authority in whatever statements he made con- 
cerning John Haggerty. Mr. Haggerty's presence at the 
Christmas Conference is also shown by Coke's statement, 
quoted on page 36. 

Ivey, Richard. — Mr. Ivey is placed by Dr. Coke in 
the number of elders who were at the Christmas Confer- 
ence. (See the statement from Dr. Coke's Journal on 
page 36.) 

Lambert, Jeremiah. — Mr. Asbury, in his Journals, says 
that at the Christmas Conference one elder was ordained 
for Antigua. The Rev. Jesse Lee, in his " History of the 
Methodists," says: "Mr. Lambert was ordained for An- 
tigua, in the West Indies." (See also Coke's statement, 
page 36.) 



Centennial History of 



O'Kelly, James. — Mr. O'Kelly, as we shall hereafter 
see, left the Methodist Episcopal Church, and wrote against 
its government. In noticing some statements of O'Kelly 
about the Christmas Conference, the Rev. Jesse Lee 
addressed him thus : " I was not at that Conference, 
not hearing of it in time ; but as you were ordained at 
that time, you returned quite satisfied, and defended the 
proceedings of the Conference." * This shows that 
Mr. O'Kelly was there. (See also Coke's statement, 
page 36.) 

Phcebus, "William. — Myles, in his " Chronological His- 
tory of the people called Methodists," says : " William 
Phoebus, one of the preachers in America, wrote an apology 
for the right of ordination in the Evangelical Church of 
America; called Methodists." Myles then gives extracts 
from Phoebus's work, in which he speaks of the organiza- 
tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Phoebus refers 
to Coke's ordination by Wesley, and says : " Him [Coke] 
he [Wesley] ordained his apostle or messenger to us, with 
outlines of advice for us to adopt, as we saw most condu- 
cive to the general good, recommending to us the Kew 
Testament for our pattern. Then with his power and the 
fear of God we assembled at the city of Baltimore, in the 
State of Maryland, and received Thomas Coke, LL.D., 
with his testimonials from the greatest man, to us, in the 
world." Dr. Bangs, in his " History of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church," says that Phoebus, " in 1784, attended 
the Christmas Conference." As Phoebus lived many 
years in New York, and as Dr. Bangs must have known 
him well, the statement of the latter, if unsupported by 
any words of Phoebus, would be regarded as establishing 
the fact of his presence at that Conference. 

Pigman, Ignatius. — Dr. Coke states that three deacons 
were elected at the Christmas Conference, of whom he says 

* " Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee," by Le Roy M. Lee, D.D., 
p. 278. 



American Methodism. 



45 



Mr. Pigman was one. He states also that Mr. Boyer, who 
was elected deacon, was not at the Conference. Had 
Pigman not been present, it is taken for granted that Coke 
would have noted his absence, as he did the absence of 
Boyer. (See Coke's statement on page 36.) As Mr. 
Ware speaks of the presence of Boyer and Pigman at 
the Conference, (see page 37 of this volume,) we suppose 
both were there a portion of the session, though Boyer's 
presence was unobserved perhaps by Coke. 

Poythress, Francis. — As Mr. Poythress, of the twenty- 
one named by Lednum, is the only one whose presence 
at the great Conference of 1784 we have not verified, we 
accept the proven accuracy of Lednum as authority in this 
case. Poythress was in the neighborhood, for Asbury, in 
Maryland, November 23, 1784, says : " Brother Poythress 
and myself had much talk about the new plan.'' 

Reed, Nelson. — The statement of Bishop Soule, quoted 
under the name of John Haggerty, (p. 43,) that Mr. 
Haggerty and Nelson Eeed were ordained elders at the 
Christmas Conference, is, of itself, conclusive. Mr. Reed 
was living in, or very near, Baltimore, when Mr. Soule 
was a resident of that city, and when M'Caine wrote his 
" History and Mystery" in the same city. In his pam- 
phlet M'Caine names Nelson Reed as one of the surviving 
members of the Christmas Conference. We think these 
testimonies have never been questioned. The reader is 
also referred to the statement of Dr. Coke, on page 36. 

Smith, John. — In the Autobiography of the Rev. 
Henry Boehm (pp. 76, 77) is the following passage : " In 
this circuit I formed the acquaintance of Rev. John Smith, 
one of our old preachers. He was at the famous Christmas 
Conference of 1784. He lived in Chestertown, and his 
house was my home." Mr. Boehm is definite as to the 
fact stated, and his intimate acquaintance with Mr. Smith 
gave him abundant opportunity to know whereof he 
affirmed. Mr. Boehm kept a Journal, from which his auto- 



46 



Centennial History of 



biography was considerably composed. Mr. Boehm's char- 
acter was such that his positive testimony to a matter of 
fact, in the case of a man whom lie knew so well, is suffi- 
cient to establish it. 

Vasey, Thomas. — The fact that Thomas Vasey was 
present at the Christmas Conference is shown by Bishop 
Asbury in the statement he wrote on the ordination 
parchment of the Rev. William M'Kendree, when the 
latter was set apart to the office of Bishop. In that parch- 
ment, which is printed in Paine's " Life of M'Kendree," 
Asbury records the following facts of Methodist Church 
history: " On the 27 th day of December, 1784, at a 
General Conference in Baltimore, after being ordained 
Deacon and Elder, I was elected to the office of Superin- 
tendent, or Bishop, by the unanimous voice of the General 
Conference, held in Baltimore, December 24, 1784. The 
following persons assisted in my ordination, namely : 
Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law of Jesus College in 
the University of Oxford, Presbyter of the Church of 
England, Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in America, by the ordination and appointment of 
Mr. John Wesley, and other clergymen of the Church of 
England ; also assisted in the ordination, William Otter- 
bein, Minister of the German Presbyterian Church ; and 
Richard Whatcoat with Thomas Vasey, regularly ordained 
elders by John Wesley. These four solemnly set me 
apart for a Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church in the United States of America." 

Ware, Thomas. — In an article on "The Christmas 
Conference," by Mr. Ware, in the " Methodist Quarterly 
Review," January, 1832, page 98, he says: "From what 
I have written it will be gathered that when the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church was constituted, I was there. But 
as I was little more than a spectator, at this interesting 
period of our history, I shall take the liberty to speak of 
the preachers that composed the Christmas Conference, as 



American Methodism. 



47 



if not numbered among them." Unfortunately, in all his 
extended reminiscences of that Conference, Mr. Ware does 
not name any of the preachers who were present, except 
Coke, Dickins, Pigman, and Boyer. 

Waiters, William. — Mr. Watters is not mentioned by 
Lednum in connection with the General Conference of 1784. 
l^Teither does Stevens mention him as one of the members 
of that celebrated body. Watters was the first native itin- 
erant preacher in the United States. He was yet> living 
in the region of Baltimore when M'Caine wrote the 
"History and Mystery." In an appendix to that pam- 
phlet, (pp. 75, 76,) M'Caine printed a letter, which he ad- 
dressed to certain venerable ministers, containing a num- 
ber of inquiries in regard to facts relating to the organiza- 
tion of the Church; and in a foot-note, (p. 76,) M'Caine 
says : " The above letter was addressed to the following 
brethren, who were members of the Conference in 1784: 
The Bev. Freeborn Carre ttson, Rev. Lemuel Green, Be v. 
Thomas Ware, Eev. Nelson Beed, Bev. William Watters, 
and Bev. Edward Dromgoole." As Watters was well 
known to M'Caine, and as the latter Avas a leader at that 
time in a controversy which led him to a close scrutiny of 
Methodist ecclesiastical facts, and as, moreover, the above 
statement was published in the region where Watters long 
lived and had just died, and in the life-time of his widow 
who survived him about eighteen years, and as, furthermore, 
it seems never to have been called in question, it must be 
accepted as true. M'Caine was associated with Watters, and 
had good opportunity to know from his own lips the fact of 
his presence at that noted Conference. Asbury, in his no- 
tice of a Conference held at Pipe Creek, in May, 1801, says : 
" We had six elders present, to wit : William Watters, 
John Philips, Jr., Solomon Harris, Joseph Stone, John 
Cullison, and Alexander M'Caine." This extract shows 
that M'Caine had such relations with Watters as a fel- 
low-laborer sixteen years after the Church was organized, 



48 



Centennial Histoky of 



as warrant the belief that he spoke on Watters's author- 
ity when he asserted that Watters was a member of the 
Christmas Conference. In his Autobiography, published 
in 1806, Watters, who was evidently a modest man, does 
not say definitely that he was at the Christinas Confer- 
ence, but his words imply that he was there. On page 
102 he says: "On the 25th of December, 1784, our 
Conference met in Baltimore, to consider the plan of 
Church government which the doctor brought over, rec- 
ommended by Mr. Wesley. It was adopted and unani- 
mously agreed to with great satisfaction, and we became, 
instead of a religious society, a separate Church." On page 
104, Watters says : " The doctor came over, and not only 
was the name of General Assistant changed to that of 
Superintendent, but we formed ourselves into a separate 
Church. This change was proposed to us by Mr. Wesley 
after we had craved his advice on the subject, but could 
not take effect till adopted by us ; which was done in a de- 
liberate, formal manner, at a Conference called for that pur- 
pose, in which there was not one dissenting voice." This ap- 
pears like the account of one who participated in the scenes 
he describes. This, together with the testimony of M'Caine, 
must be considered as decisive. It may not be irrelevant 
to add that Mr. M'Caine was the Secretary of the General 
Conference of 1820, and was subsequently a member of the 
Book Committee. 

Whatooat, Richard. — The presence of Whatcoat at the 
Christmas Conference is shown by the statement of Bishop 
Asbury that he assisted in the ordination of the latter as 
Superintendent, which statement is given on page 46 of 
this volume, under the name of Thomas Yasey. In his 
Journal, Whatcoat, himself, gives sufficient evidence of 
the fact of his presence at that first American Methodist 
General Conference. 

Lednum's statement, and the names as he has placed 
them, are as follows : " The following ministers were cer- 



American Methodism. 



49 



tainly in attendance : Thomas Coke, Francis Asbury, 
Richard Whatcoat, Thomas Yasey, Freeborn Garrettson, 
William Gill, Reuben Ellis, Le Roy Cole, Richard Ivey, 
James O'Kelly, John Haggerty, Nelson Reed, James O. 
Cromwell, Jeremiah Lambert, John Dickins, William 
Glendeiming, Francis Poythress, Joseph Everett, William 
Black, William Phoebus, and Thomas Ware." * 

In addition to those given by Lednum, the following 
names of members of the Christinas Conference are re- 
corded in the preceding pages, namely: Edward Drom- 
goole, Ira Ellis, Jonathan Forrest, Lemuel Green, John 
Smith, William Waiters, Ignatius Pigman, and Caleb 
Boyer. In respect to Boyer there is, as has been shown, 
on page 37, an apparent conflict between the testimony of 
Dr. Coke and that of Thomas Ware. But as Ware's tes- 
timony is circumstantial and direct, we accept it, and rec- 
oncile the discrepancy by the hypothesis that Boyer was 
not present during the whole session, and so was absent 
from the ordination service, and that thereby Coke was led 
to record him as not present at the Conference. 

An illustration of the uncertainty of the early Method- 
ist documents is furnished in the case of Michael Ellis. 
In his obituary, in the " General Minutes " of 1832, it is 
stated that he was ordained a deacon on the day that 
Mr. Asbury was ordained Bishop. On the contrary, Dr. 
Coke, in his Journal in the " Arminian Magazine," states 
that Michael Ellis was ordained a deacon at the Confer- 
ence held in Baltimore, in June, 1TS5. Coke's statement 
is forty-seven years earlier than that in the " Minutes." 

Thus documentary evidence is given of the presence at 
the Christmas Conference of all the preachers whom Mr. 
Lednum says were "certainly" there, except one; and 
as Lednum is so accurate on this subject, and as his infor- 
mation was, it is to be presumed, adequate to justify his 
statement, we accept his authority in the instance of 

* " Rise of Methodism in America," p. 413. 

3 



50 



Centennial History of 



Poythress. Besides furnishing proof, which Lednum has 
failed to do, of the presence at the Christmas Conference 
of a score of those who he states were " certainly " there, 
we have obtained evidence, from trustworthy documents, 
of the presence there of eight other preachers, including 
Boyer. Thus the largest and, at the same time, the only 
authenticated catalogue of the members of the Christ- 
mas Conference in existence is that which is here pre- 
sented. It contains — including Poythress and Boyer — 
twenty-nine names. Coke says that, of a total of eighty- 
one preachers, nearly sixty were present. It is prob- 
able that there were about twenty-five absentees, and 
of the others — numbering, perhaps, twenty-five — who 
were present, the evidence as to who they were is now 
probably forever vanished. It is a cause for deep regret 
that the two Superintendents, Coke and Asbury, did not 
record in their Journals a complete list of the names 
of the men who were associated with them at the Christ- 
mas Conference in the organization of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. As they did not, however, it is a 
matter for gratulation that, after the lapse of a hun- 
dred years, by means of relics of Methodist antiquity that 
have floated down to the Centennial year, such as maga- 
zines, journals, pamphlets, and autobiographies, the Church 
may know the names of half the Methodist preachers 
who composed that interesting and momentous body, the 
Christmas Conference. 



American Methodism. 



51 



CHAPTER III. 

MR. WESLEY'S RELATION TO THE NEW CHURCH. 

DID John Wesley propose to the American Methodists 
the organization of a Church ? Was it his desire that 
the j should construct a new ecclesiastical structure ? 

In seeking the truth of American Methodist history, 
the author of these pages has no case to advocate, no 
theories to maintain. Therefore, he will impartially pre- 
sent the evidence respecting the design of Mr. Wesley in 
sending Dr. Coke to America, so that each reader may 
determine the question on its merits. 

The evidence as to whether Wesley contemplated a sep- 
arate Church organization in the United States is of three 
kinds : First, the acts of Wesley ; second, the recorded 
utterances of Wesley ; third, the understanding had by 
Dr. Coke and the members of the Christmas Conference 
of Mr. Wesley's intention in the matter. 

Mr. Wesley's acts and words seem at variance here. 
Three things were done by him which seem as if he 
designed that a new Episcopal Church, distinct and sep- 
arate from every other Church, should be organized. 
These were : first, the ordination of Dr. Coke as General 
Superintendent ; second, the preparation of a doctrinal creed; 
third, the provision of a liturgy. As to the first, it may be 
asked, If the office of Superintendent had no more signif- 
icance in his view than that of General Assistant — which was 
itself a snperintendency, and was then exercised by Asbury 
— why did Mr. Wesley adopt the solemn formality of con- 
secrating Coke by the imposition of hands % With respect 
to the second the inquiry arises, If he designed that the 
American societies should continue in connection with the 



52 



Centennial History of 



Church of England, why did Mr. Wesley provide for them a 
theological creed ? If they were to become an independent 
Church, it was expedient and, indeed, necessary that they 
should deliver to the world that form of doctrine which 
they would maintain and propagate. If, however, they 
were to remain adherents of the English Church, the 
Thirty-nine Articles, unaltered, constituted their sym- 
bol of faith. Respecting the third act of Mr. Wesley, 
namely, the provision of a liturgy, its significance is 
greatest when viewed in connection with the ordination 
of Coke and the abridgment of the Thirty-nine Articles. 
Apart by itself, the fact that Mr. Wesley sent a prayer 
book, which he had adapted for their use, to the Meth- 
odists in America might only signify his desire that 
they should observe a certain form of worship; but, in 
connection with the ordination of Coke and the provis- 
ion of a creed, it seems to signify more. It may sure- 
ly be asked, If Wesley had no intention that a separate 
Church should be formed, why, then, did he provide an 
ordained superintendence, a creed, and a prayer book? 
When, however, we examine what Mr. Wesley wrote 
of his action toward the American Methodists in 1784, 
we find that his words change the aspect of his acts. 
Contemplated in the light of his words, Wesley's acts 
seem of less significance than when viewed apart by 
themselves. 

The writings of Mr. Wesley on this subject seem at 
variance with his acts : 

First. In that in the certificate of Coke as Superin- 
tendent he assigns, as the reason for setting him apart to 
that office, the following : " Many of the people in the 
southern provinces of North America, who desire to con- 
tinue under my care, and still adhere to the doctrine and 
discipline of the Church of England, are greatly distressed 
for the want of ministers to administer the sacraments of 
baptism and the Lord's Supper according to the usage of 



American Methodism. 



53 



the same Church." It is evident that the Methodists in an 
independent Church might still remain, in some sense, 
under Wesley's care, and abide in the doctrines of the 
Church of England ; but how, in such case, they could " ad- 
here to the Discipline " of that Church, if such adherence 
involved submission to its authority, is not so obvious. 

Second. In the Minutes of the English Conference of 
the year 1785 is a statement signed by John Wesley and 
dated August 30th of that year, eight months after the 
Christmas Conference, in which he says : " We were strongly 
importuned by our brethren in America to go over and 
help them. Several preachers willingly offered themselves 
for the service, and several went from time to time. God 
blessed their labors in an uncommon manner. Many sin- 
ners were converted to God, and many societies formed 
under the same rules as were observed in England, in- 
somuch that at present the American societies contain more 
than eighteen thousand members. But since the late Rev- 
olution in North America these have been in great distress. 
The clergy, having no sustenance either from England or 
from the American States, have been obliged, almost uni- 
versally, to leave the country and seek their food else- 
where. Hence those who had been members of the 
Church had none either to administer the Lord's Supper or 
to baptize their children. They applied to England over 
and over, but to no purpose. Judging this to be a case 
of real necessity, I took a step which, for peace and quiet- 
ness, I had refrained from taking for many years. I exer- 
cised that power which I am fully persuaded the great 
Shepherd and Bishop of the Church has given me : I ap- 
pointed three of our laborers to go and help them, by not 
only preaching the word of God, but likewise by admin- 
istering the Lord's Supper and baptizing their children 
throughout that vast tract of land. 

" These are the steps which, not of choice but necessity, 
I have slowly and deliberately taken. If any one is pleased 



54 



Centennial History of 



to call this separating from the Church he may. But the 
law of England does not call it so." 

Here Mr. Wesley seems to set forth that his inten- 
tion in sending Dr. Coke "to America was not to sep- 
arate the societies from the Church of England, but to 
give them the sacraments. For this purpose he ordained 
Whatcoat and Yasey and sent them with Coke. After writ- 
ing what is in the above extract, Mr. Wesley immediately 
proceeds to add : " After Dr. Coke's return from America 
many of our friends begged I would consider the case of 
Scotland, where we had been laboring for many years, and 
had seen so little fruit of our labors. Multitudes, indeed, 
have set out well, but they were soon turned out of the 
way ; chiefly by their ministers either disputing against the 
truth, or refusing to admit them to the Lord's Supper, yea, 
or to baptize their children, unless they would promise to 
have no fellowship with the Methodists. Many who did 
so soon lost all they had gained, and became more the 
children of hell than before. To prevent this I at length 
consented to take the same step with regard to Scotland 
which Iliad done with regard to America. But this is not 
a separation from the Church at all. Whatever then is 
done, either in America or Scotland, is no separation from 
the Church of England. I have no thought of this : I have 
many objections against it."* 

Mr. Wesley's language here is very plain and explicit. 
He affirms that his action with respect to Scotland was 
the same as that with respect to America. In the first 
" Life of Wesley " that was ever written, the authors 
of which were Dr. Coke and the Rev. Henry Moore, 
in the edition of 1792, Mr. Wesley's provision for the 
societies in Scotland is stated as follows : " Having pa- 
tiently suffered these things for a considerable time to the 
great detriment of true religion, he at length resolved to 

*"Arminian Magazine," 1786, pp. 617-78; also "Works," volume vii, 
pp. 314, 315. The italics are mine. 



American Methodism. 



55 



give his societies in that kingdom all the help he possibly 
could. He, therefore, at the Conference held in London 
in the year 1785, being assisted by two other presbyters of 
the Church of England, ' set apart,' to use his own words, 
' three of our w T ell-tried preachers, John Pawson, Thomas 
Handy, and Joseph Taylor, to minister in Scotland,' (that is, 
to administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Sup- 
per.) ' I trust,' continues he, ' God will bless their minis- 
trations and show that he has sent them.' From this time 
the societies in Scotland have had a stability which they 
had not before." * He also " recommended to the Scotch 
Methodists the use of the abridged Common Prayer." f 
When Wesley wrote of what he had done for the relief 
of the societies in America and in Scotland, eight months, 
we repeat, had passed since the Christinas Conference or- 
ganized the Methodist Episcopal Church. In explaining 
his provision for America and Scotland he declares that 
there "is no separation from the Church of England " 
There is abundant evidence, however, that the American 
Methodists understood from the first that the action at 
Baltimore, in the last days of 1784, effected their total 
severance from the English Church. Wesley does not 
appear to have seen how decisive was that action. He 
seems to have considered it as having no more significance 
than his provision for the societies in Scotland. 

In a letter to Charles Wesley of the date of August 19, 
1785, Mr. Wesley said, respecting separation from the 
Church : " I no more separate from it now than I did in 
1758." 

Having no thought, as he declares, of separating the 
American societies from the Church of England ; which 
fact he also indicates in Coke's certificate of ordination in 
the words : " Who desire to continue under my care and in 
the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England ; " 

*Coke and Moore's "Life of Wesley," pp. 417, 418. 
f Myles's "Chronological History of Methodism." 



56 



Centennial Histoky of 



did Wesley then devise a scheme for the organization of a 
Church in the United States which should be not only in- 
dependent of the English establishment, but also of his 
own ecclesiastical authority % 

Whatever Mr. Wesley did design, it is clear that he 
did not intend to relinquish his power as the chief ruler 
of American Methodism. Until the Christmas Confer- 
ence of 1784, the Methodists, in whatever part of the world 
they were known, had but one form of discipline. John 
Wesley was the author of that discipline, and his gov- 
ernment was as universal as Methodism. After the year 
1784 Mr. Wesley continued to show the same authority 
toward the American Methodists that he had displayed 
from the beginning. He seems, indeed, to have required 
a more formal submission with the embassy of Coke than 
before ; for Mr. Asbury says, "After the Revolution we 
were called upon to give a printed obligation which here 
follows and could not be dispensed with — it must be: 
'During the life of the Rev. Mr. Wesley, we acknowledge 
ourselves his sons in the Gospel, ready in matters belong- 
ing to Church government to obey his commands ; and we 
do engage after his death to do every thing that we judge 
consistent with the cause of religion in America and the 
political interests of the States, to preserve and promote 
our union with the Methodists in Europe.' " * So far as 
Asbury was concerned, this declaration of submission to 
Mr. Wesley, formally made by the Christmas Conference, 
was not of choice, but, as he indicates in the words just 
quoted, of necessity. He says : " I never approved of 
that binding minute. I did not think it practical expe- 
diency to obey Mr. Wesley at three thousand miles dis- 
tance in all matters relative to Church government." 

Less than two years after the organization of the Church 
Mr. W esley designated Mr. Whatcoat as a Superintendent, 
in a letter addressed to Dr. Coke, dated September 6, 1786, 

* Asbury's Letter to the Rev. Joseph Benson. 



American Methodism. 



57 



as follows : " I desire that you would appoint a General 
Conference of our preachers in the United States to meet at 
Baltimore on May 1, 1787, and that Mr. Whatcoat may be 
appointed Superintendent with Mr. Asbury." It was said 
that he displayed even higher authority by indicating an 
intention of removing Mr. Asbury from the office of Super- 
intendent, and recalling him to Europe. Mr. Asbury says : 
" He rigidly contended for a special and independent right 
of governing the chief minister or ministers of our order, 
which in our judgment meant not only to put him out of 
office, but to remove him from the continent to elsewhere 
that our father saw fit ; and that notwithstanding our con- 
stitution, and the right of electing every Church officer, 
and more especially our Superintendent. We were told 
6 not till after the death of Mr. Wesley ' could our constitu- 
tion have its full operation."* If Mr. Wesley designed 
that the measures contemplated by the embassy of Coke 
should release American Methodism in any degree from 
his control, would he have asserted such power after the 
new departure was accomplished ? 

The designation of Whatcoat for the office of Super- 
intendent provoked resistance. Opposition was shown by 
positive words, and also by Conference action. The Rev. 
William Phoebus says that Dr. Coke had " some directions 
fi'om Mr. Wesley to give the Conference ; in which di- 
rections Richard Whatcoat was nominated for a third 
Superintendent. One ventured to say that Mr. Wesley 
took too much on him— yea, too much to be borne with 
by Americans ; that he might increase his impositions if 
his power were not checked. It might grow enormous,, 
even to popery." f 

Asbury, however, when informed by Dr. Coke that Wes- 
ley had designated Whatcoat for the super intendency,, 

* Letter to Benson. 

f " Memoirs of the Rev. Richard Whatcoat; late Bishop of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church." By William Phoebus, M.D, New York, 1S28. 
3* 



58 



Centennial History of 



acquiesced. The Conference at Charleston did likewise. 
When the matter was brought before the Virginia Confer- 
ence it was strongly opposed by James O'Kelly. This op- 
position surprised and pained Dr. Coke, It was agreed, 
however, to submit the case for final decision to the Con- 
ference soon to be held in Baltimore, " on condition that 
the Virginia Conference might send a deputy to explain 
their sentiments." * At the Baltimore Conference the 
Bishops called the elders into council to consider it, and 
they, notwithstanding Coke's advocacy, decided adversely. 
One reason urged by O'Kelly against Whatcoat's appoint- 
ment was, he " did not consider the person [Whatcoat] 
adequate to the task on account of his age, and also 
that he was a stranger in the wilderness of America." 
Another reason assigned at Conference was that, if What- 
coat should be accepted as Superintendent, Wesley would 
possibly recall Mr. Asbury. Coke insisted that the Con- 
ference was bound to be governed by Mr. Wesley's wish 
respecting Mr. Whatcoat, because of the " printed obliga- 
tion" of 1784, to obey him in matters relating to Church 
government. The case was submitted to the Conference, 
and the decision was against the appointment of Whatcoat. 
The Conference also expunged the resolution to obey Mr. 
Wesley, and his name did not appear in the next Minutes. 

This procedure grieved Mr. Wesley. " His natural tem- 
per was warm and vehement. Religion had done much 
in correcting this, yet it was still visible. Persecution 
from without he bore without wrath, and apparently, almost 
without feeling. But when he was opposed by his preach- 
.ers or people his displeasure was visible. It has been said 
of him, 

" ' He carried anger as the flint bears fire ; 
Which much enforced, shows a hasty spark, 
And straight is cold again.' " f 

* Snethen's Reply to O'Kelly. 

f The Rev. Jonathan Crovvther, " Portraiture of Methodism," p. 71. Lon- 
don, 1811. 



American Methodism. 



59 



He blamed Mr. Asbury. The latter says that Mr. "Wesley 
was told " that no sooner had he granted the Americans 
what they wished than they declared themselves independ- 
ent of him." * " Mr. Asbury considered Mr. Rankin in 
the light of an opponent, and it is certain that if there was 
any dependence to be placed in the correspondence of his 
English friend, Mr. Rankin did use all his influence with 
Mr. Wesley to have him recalled. Mr. Asbury was in- 
formed that when the news arrived that Mr. Wesley's 
name was left off the American Minutes, Mr. Rankin, who 
was present, without waiting for the evidence, exclaimed, 
' That's Frank Asbury's doings.' "f In a letter to the Rev. 
Joseph Benson, Asbury says : " The counsel of Diotrephes^: 
in a full Conference was in substance this, ' If he had the 
power and authority of Mr. Wesley he would call Frank 
Asbury home directly.' John Harper was the man who 
was present in Conference and heard this advice given, and 
told me several years after in America with his own mouth." 

Mr. Wesley expressed himself strongly respecting what 
he thought was Mr. Asbury's conduct in the matter of 
the rejection of Whatcoat as a Superintendent, and the 
removal of Wesley's name from the Minutes. He wrote 
to Whatcoat : " It was not well judged of Brother Asbury 
to suffer, much less indirectly encourage, the foolish step 
in the last Conference. Every preacher present ought, 
both in duty and in prudence, to have said, 'Brother 
Asbury, Mr. Wesley is your father, consecpiently ours.' 
Candor will affirm this in the face of the world. It is 
highly probable that disallowing me will, as soon as my 
head is laid, occasion a total breach between the English 
and American Methodists. They will naturally say, 'If 

* Asbury's Letter to Benson. 

f The Rev. Kieholas Suethen's " Methodist History" in "Wesleyan Re- 
positoiy." Mr. Snethen traveled with Bishop Asbury as early as the year 
1S00. 

% By "Diotrephes " Asbury undoubtedly meant Rankin. 



60 



Centennial History of 



they can do without us, we can do without them.' But 
they would find a greater difference than they imagine. 
JSText would follow a separation among themselves."* In a 
letter of October 31, 1789, which was published by Ham- 
mett in Charleston, Mr. Wesley said, " I was a little sur- 
prised when I received some letters from Mr. Asbury 
affirming that no person in Europe knew how to direct 
those in America. Soon after he flatly refused to receive 
Mr. Whatcoat in the character I sent him. He told George 
Shadford, ' Mr. Wesley and I are like Csesar and Pompey ; 
he will bear no equal, and I will bear no superior.'! And 
accordingly he quietly sat by until his friends voted my 
name out of the American Minutes. This completed the 
matter and showed that he had no connection with me." 
Of the trouble resulting from this conflict of authority 
Mr. Asbury wrote : " And why was I thus charged ? Be- 
cause I did not establish Mr. Wesley's absolute authority 
over the American Connection. For myself, this I had 
submitted to, but the Americans were too jealous to bind 
themselves to yield to him in all things relative to Church 
government. Mr. Wesley was a man they had never seen 
— was three thousand miles off — how might submission in 
such a case be expected ? Brother Coke and myself gave 
offense to the Connection by enforcing Mr. Wesley's will 
in some matters." In relation to rescinding the obligation 
to obey Mr. Wesley, Asbury says : " At the first General 
Conference, I was mute and modest when it passed ; and I 
was mute when it was expunged." 

James O'Kelly publicly charged that Mr. Asbury was 
the chief agent in this transaction. In his " Apology " 
O'Kelly said: "After these things Francis took with 

* This letter indicates that up to this time (1787) Mr. Wesley regarded 
the Methodists in Europe and America as one people, and governed alike 
by him. The letter was published in Phcebus's : 'Life of Whatcoat." 

f The understanding appears to have been that Wesley, in attributing 
this language to Asbury, was mistaken. 



American Methodism. 



61 



him a few chosen men, and in a clandestine manner ex- 
pelled John, whose surname was Wesley, from the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church." 

The Rev. [Nicholas Snethen, in his " Reply to O'Kellv," 
says that Mr. Asbury related to him " a particular detail 
of every circumstance relative to himself that had relation 
to the leaving of Mr. Wesley's name out of the American 
Minutes, from which it appears that Mr. Asbury was not 
deserving of the smallest blame in the whole business." 
Mr. Snethen adds : " As the most effectual way of dis- 
pelling darkness is by opposing light to it, a simple rela- 
tion of that event will, no doubt, be deemed sufficient. 
At a Conference held in Baltimore, May 1, 1TS7, a vote 
was taken that Richard Whatcoat should not be ordained 
Superintendent, and that Mr. Wesley's name should for the 
future be left off the American Minutes. Mr. Asbury 
neither made the motion nor advocated it ; the whole case 
was constitutionally carried through the Conference and 
voted by a fair majority. Mr. Asbury, indeed, foresaw 
the consequence when the question was in contemplation, 
and informed the patrons of it that he expected all the 
blame would be imputed to him, if it should be carried. 
Had he been under the influence of the spirit of prophecy, 
his fears could not have been better grounded." * 

The Rev. Thomas Morrell, in a pamphlet entitled 
u Truth Discovered," gave an account of this procedure. 
" Early in 1787," says Mr. Morrell, " Mr. Wesley intimated 
a design of removing Mr. Asbury from America to Europe, 
and of sending us a Superintendent of his own nomination. 
When the Conference assembled, some of the eldest and 
most sensible of the elders observed that Mr. Wesley had 
no authority to remove Mr. Asbury, much less could he 
impose a Superintendent on us without our choice ; for it 
was written in our constitution that ' no person should be 

* Snethen's " Reply to Mr. O'Kelly's Apology for Protesting- against the 
Methodist Episcopal Church Government." Philadelphia, 1800. 



62 



Centennial IIistoky of 



ordained a Superintendent over us without the consent of the 
majority of the Conference ; ' that no such consent had been 
given ; that though they highly venerated Mr. Wesley, and 
were willing to receive his advice, and preserve and promote 
our union with him, and our Methodist brethren in Europe, 
as far as the political interest of our country would author- 
ize us ; yet they could not give up their rights to any man 
on earth. And after a number of arguments to show the 
impropriety and impolicy of any man having the power to 
exercise such an uncontrollable and unlimited authority 
over us, as Mr. Wesley wished to do, and to prevent him 
from exercising this power in the present case, by virtue of 
his name standing at the head of the Minutes, they moved 
that it should be struck off. The vote was carried and his 
name was omitted. Mr. Wesley complained that we were 
ungrateful. We felt ourselves grieved that the good old 
man was hurt, and determined to give him every satis- 
faction in our power, consistent with our rights, and in 
1789 the Conference consented that his name should be 
restored on the Minutes, in testimony of our union with 
and respect for him ; but inserted in such a manner as to 
preclude him from exercising an unconstitutional power 
over us." 

The omission of his name not only displeased Mr. 
Wesley, but also some of the American Methodists. " This 
was a time of trial," says Phoebus, " with many who laid it 
to heart. It was to be feared that part would continue a 
Society, or form again under Mr. Wesley, independent of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Many felt 
like being scattered when the shepherd had received so 
heavy a blow from hb friends." * Mr. Snethen says that 
the removal of the name of Wesley from the Minutes, 
"gave rise to feelings of a very unpleasant nature. Dr. 
Coke actually commenced the complaint in the pulpit, and 
was only restrained by the timely and resolute interfer- 

* Phoebus's "Memoirs of Whatcoat," p. 6?. 



American Methodism. 



63 



ence of some of the more judicious of the preacher?." 
We shall hereafter see with what warmth Coke did refer 
to this action in his sermon on the death of Wesley, 
preached in Baltimore, in the spring of 1791. 

One has said, " The plan of Mr. Wesley was peculiar. 
He aimed to retain for the Methodists their full member- 
ship in the National Church, and yet a peculiar Christian 
society. The history of this novel plan is the history of 
Methodism in England and its colonies." Mr. Wesley, as 
we have seen, rejected the imputation that he had sepa- 
rated from the Church of England. He ever claimed to 
be a clergyman of that Church. Yet he continued to ex- 
ercise authority over the Methodist Episcopal Church in the 
United States until, to prevent the possibility of his re- 
calling Mr. Asbury to Europe, and otherwise attempting to 
control their ecclesiastical affairs, the American preachers 
voted his name out of their Minutes. Did he consider 
himself the ruler of an independent Episcopal Church in 
America ? Furthermore, Dr. Coke continued to be a mem- 
ber of Mr. Wesley's Conference in England, at the same 
time that he was a Superintendent or, as he chose to be called, 
a Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United 
States. Did Mr. Wesley regard Coke as a Superintendent 
of a separate and independent Church? After Wesley's 
death Coke was frequently the secretary of the Wesleyan 
Conference, and in 1797 and in 1805 he was its president. 

There is no evidence that Wesley, in appointing Coke 
and Asbury Superintendents of the American Methodists, 
contemplated that a Conference would be called to con- 
sider and decide upon his action. The fact that he not 
only appointed Dr. Coke a Superintendent, but also con- 
secrated him to that office and instructed him to con- 
secrate Asbury to the same office, without having con- 
sulted the American preachers, shows that he did not 
consider that they had any authority in the matter. There 
is evidence that the Conference was proposed and agreed 



64 



Centennial History of 



upon after Dr. Coke's arrival at Barratt's Chapel, in Dela- 
ware, where he first met Mr. Asbury. Thomas Ware says 
that after Coke had shown his credentials to Asbury, the 
latter said : " Doctor, we will call the preachers together, and 
the voice of the preachers shall be to me the voice of God. 
A Conference was, accordingly, agreed upon."* In the 
" Keply to O'Kelly's Apology," the Rev. Nicholas Snethen 
says, " that he has heard Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and sev- 
eral members of that Conference declare that Mr. Asbury 
refused to serve as a Superintendent or Bishop without the 
election of the Conference, and that he was elected hy a 
unanimous vote.'''' 

The Rev. J olm Dickins was the first preacher who heard 
from Dr. Coke, after his arrival in America, the nature of 
his mission. Coke's account of his interview with Dickins 
does not indicate that either of them had any thought of a 
Conference. In his Journal of November 3, 1784, just after 
he landed in New York, Coke says : " I have opened Mr. 
Wesley's plan to Brother Dickins, the traveling preacher 
stationed at this place, and he highly approves of it ; says 
that all the preachers most earnestly long for such a regu- 
lation, and that Mr. Asbury he is sure will agree to it. He 
presses me most earnestly to make it public, because, as he 
most justly argues, Mr. Wesley has determined the point, 
and therefore it is not to he investigated, out complied 
with? f If the plan of Wesley was "not to be inves- 
tigated, but complied with," as Dickins insisted, why call 
a General Conference ? The scheme was fixed already, 
and in the view of Dickins and Coke there was but one 
thing to do, namely, not to consider it, hut to comply with it. 

There is a significant allusion to Asbury, in the account 
of Coke's interview with Dickins, in the Journal of Coke 
in the Philadelphia "Arminian Magazine," which does not 

*" Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xiv, 1832, p. 97. 
f " Extracts of the Journals of the Rev. Dr. Coke's Fiye Visits to Ameri- 
ca," p. 13. London, 1193. The italics are mine. 



American Methodism. 



65 



appear in the volume of his Journals. The two accounts 
are substantially alike, except in one sentence. In the ac- 
count in the volume that sentence stands thus : " He presses 
me most earnestly to make it public because, as he most 
justly argues, Mr. Wesley has determined the point, and 
therefore it is not to be investigated, but complied with." 
In the Magazine the sentence appears thus : " He presses 
me earnestly to make it public, because, as he most justly 
argues, Mr. Wesley has determined the point, though Mr. 
Asbury is most respectfully to he consulted m respect to 
every part of the execution of it." * 

Francis Asbury was at that time the head of American 
Methodism. His influence and authority here were about 
what Wesley's authority was in England. The preachers 
trusted him, loved him, followed him. No man could 
take out of his hands the rising Church which he had 
fostered, and to which he was united by bonds formed of 
affection, toil, sacrifice, and suffering. His ability as a 
leader was of the highest order. He had, by his masterful 
ecclesiastical generalship, held the Methodists in America 
in unity amidst the distractions of war, when Wesley turned 
his pen against the Revolution, and when every English 
preacher except himself forsook the trembling Methodist 
flock ; he had also maintained that unity through the ad- 
ditional agitations and almost rupture resulting from with- 
holding the sacraments. Now when independence was 
established, and a new era had dawned, Asbury was se- 
curely seated as the foremost ruler of Methodism in 
America. About all that in the circumstances it was 
possible for even Wesley to do, was to formally recognize 
Asbury's position as leader and overseer of the Meth- 
odists in the United States. Asbury was their shep- 
herd. They knew his voice, and would follow him. 
Coke was a stranger; Wesley they revered, but only a 

* The Journal of Bishop Coke : "Arminian Magazine, " (American,) 1789, 
p. 242. I have put the reference to Asbury in italics. 



66 



Centennial Histoey of 



few of them had ever seen him, and his voice reached 
them but feebly across the Atlantic. Asbnry, and not 
Wesley, was the real Bishop of Methodism in the Eew 
World. Coke was too sagacious to fail to comprehend the 
situation, and he saw that prudence required that Mr. 
Asbuiy should be "most respectfully consulted in respect 
to every part of the execution of " his mission. There is 
reason to believe that Asbnry, and not Wesley, nor Coke, 
originated the Conference which did investigate and act 
upon the matters involved in Coke's embassy. 

One of the reasons noticed by Thomas Ware for the 
action of the Conference in 1787, by which the declara- 
tion of submission to Mr. Wesley was canceled, was that 
Wesley proposed that matters should be determined, 
not by vote of Conference, but by the Superintendents. 
Wesley's plan of holding Conference was to invite such 
preachers as he chose to confer with, reserving to him- 
self the power of decision in all cases. As an illus- 
tration of this, take the Conference which was held in 
London the year the Christmas Conference closed its 
session — 1785. Concerning it, Mr. Wesley says: "About 
seventy preachers were present whom I had invited by 
name. One consequence of this was that we had no con- 
tention or altercation at all." Those whose opinions he 
did not wish to hear, he, of course, did not invite. Mr. 
Ware says : " This he deemed the more excellent way, and 
as we had volunteered and pledged ourselves to obey, he 
instructed the doctor, conformably to his own usage, to put 
as few questions to vote as possible, saying : ' If you and 
Brother Asbnry and Brother Whatcoat are agreed, it is 
enough.' To place the power of deciding all questions 
discussed, or nearly all, in the hands of the Superintend- 
ents, was what could never be introduced among us." * 
Now, did Wesley ignore the whole theory and practice of 
his life with respect to ecclesiastical government, by direct- 

* "Life of Ware," p. 130. 



American Methodism. 



67 



ing that upon the arrival of Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey 
in the United States, the preachers should be convened to 
decide, by vote, whether they would accept the Superin- 
tendents, the creed, and the liturgy, which he had pro- 
vided? This would have been a good American procedure, 
but it could hardly have been designed by Wesley. 

With reference to his interview with Dr. Coke, Mr. 
Asbury says : " I was shocked when first informed of the 
intention of these my brethren in coming to this country. 
It may be of God. My answer then was, If the preachers 
unanimously choose me, I shall not act in the capacity I 
have hitherto done by Mr. Wesley's appoint rnent."* Here 
was a motion toward home government. Mr. Asbury pro- 
posed to be governed by the preachers rather than by a 
man who, however good and wise, was three thousand 
miles from the field. The Rev. Nicholas Snethen says 
that Asbury " in securing to the General Conference the 
election of the Bishops, by declining to serve under Mr. 
Wesley's appointment until he was elected by the Amer- 
ican preachers, subserved the cause of independence." f 
Mr. Asbury proceeds to say that " the design of organiz- 
ing the Methodists into an independent Episcopal Church 
was opened to the preachers present, and it was agreed to 
call a General Conference, to meet at Baltimore the en- 
suing Christmas." 

Dr. Coke's account of his interview with Mr. Asbury, after 
they met in Barratt's Chapel, is as follows : "After dining, 
in company with eleven of the preachers, at our Sister Bar- 
ratt's, about a mile from the chapel, I privately opened our 
plan to Mr. Asbury. He expressed considerable doubts 
concerning it, which I rather applaud than otherwise, % 
but informed me that he had received some intimations of 
my arrival on the continent ; and as he thought it probable 

* " Asbury's Journal," vol. i, p. 484. 

f Snethen's sermon in " The Christian "World," 1841. 

% The language I have italicised is not in the volume of Coke's Journals. 



68 



Centennial History of 



I might meet him on that day, and might have something of 
importance to communicate to him from Mr. Wesley, he 
had, therefore, called together a considerable number of 
preachers to form a council, and if they were of ojoinion 
that it would be expedient immediately to call a Confer- 
ence, it should be done. They were accordingly called, 
and, after debate, were unanimously of opinion that it 
would be best immediately to call a Conference of all the 
traveling preachers on the continent."* Suppose they had 
decided not to call a Conference, would Wesley's plan 
have been consummated ? If so, would a separate Church 
have risen? 

Nothing could be more clear than that the General 
Conference of 1784 was agreed upon by Asbury and 
several of his preachers, whom he had selected to form 
a council of war in the exigency. By their act the Con- 
ference was convened. Dr. Coke evidently acquiesced in 
the measure as the only means by which Mr. Asbury's 
co-operation could be secured. We repeat, Wesley's ap- 
pointment of Asbury as joint Superintendent was doubt- 
less made without any expectation that it would be sub- 
mitted for ratification to the American preachers in Con- 
ference. 

The subject of a separate Church organization was free- 
ly discussed during the interval between the Council of 
the preachers, at which a General Conference was agreed 
upon, and the assembling of the Conference. Whatcoat 
mentions a conversation he had with Michael Ellis in De- 
cember, " to whom," he says, " I gave an account of our 
mission. He was greatly pleased."f Asbury held con- 
sultations with his ministerial associates on the subject, 
for he says in his Journal, November 23, " Brother Poy- 
thress and myself had much talk about the new plan." 

* Journal of Coke, "Arminian Magazine," Philadelphia, 1189, pp. 243, 244. 
•j- Whatcoat's Journal. This fact shows it to be highly probable that 
Michael Ellis attended the Christmas Conference. 



American Methodism. 



69 



The "plan," as Asbury had previously stated, was the 
"organizing the Methodists into an independent Episco- 
pal Church." Who was the author of the plan, Asbury 
does not say; but the inference would be that it was de- 
vised by Wesley, and disclosed to Asbury by Dr. Coke. 
How Wesley could have formed such a plan, in view of 
his declaration that what lie did with respect to America 
was no separation from the Church of England ; that he 
had no thought of such a separation ; and the further 
fact that he intended still to exercise control over the 
American Methodists, is not apparent. 

The next question to be considered is, What under- 
standing had Dr. Coke and the members of the Christ- 
mas Conference respecting Mr. Wesley's design in re- 
lation to the organization of a separate Church? Dr. 
Coke received Wesley's plan directly from his lips. 
What did Coke understand that plan was? Drew, in 
his "Life of Coke," says that, in the month of Feb- 
ruary, 1784, Mr. Wesley "called Dr. Coke into his pri- 
vate chamber, and, after some preparatory observations, 
introduced the important subject, in nearly the following 
manner : 

" That, as the Revolution in America had separated the 
United States from the mother country forever, and the 
Episcopal establishment was utterly abolished, the societies 
had been represented to him in a most deplorable condition. 
That an appeal had also been made to him, through Mr. 
Asbury, in which he was requested to provide for them 
some mode of Church government suited to their exigen- 
cies, and that, having long and seriously revolved the sub- 
ject in his thoughts, he intended to adopt the plan which 
he was now about to unfold. That as he had invariably 
endeavored, in every step he had taken, to keep as closely 
to the Bible as possible, so, on the present occasion, he 
hoped he was not about to deviate from it. That keeping 
his eye upon the conduct of the primitive Churches in the 



TO 



Centennial History of 



ages of unadulterated Christianity, he had much admired 
the mode of ordaining Bishops which the Church at Alex- 
andria had practiced. That to preserve its purity, that 
Church would never suffer the interference of a foreign 
Bishop in any of their ordinations ; but that the presbyters 
of that venerable apostolic Church, on the death of a Bish- 
op, exercised the right of ordaining another from their own 
body by the laying on of their own hands, and that this 
practice continued among them for two hundred years till 
the days of Dionysius. And finally, that being himself a 
presbyter, he wished Dr. Coke to accept ordination from his 
hands, and to proceed, in that character, to the continent 
of America to superintend the societies in the United 
States." 

Subsequently Dr. Coke wrote to Mr. Wesley, as fol- 
lows : " I intended to trouble you no more about my going 
to America ; but your observations incline me to address 
you again on the subject. 

" If some one, in whom you could place the fullest con- 
fidence, and whom you think likely to have sufficient 
influence and prudence and delicacy of conduct for the 
purpose, were to go over and return, you would then have 
a source of sufficient information to determine on any 
points or propositions. I may be destitute of the last- 
mentioned essential qualification, (to the former I lay 
claim without reserve;) otherwise my taking such a voyage 
might be expedient. 

" By this means, you might have fuller information con- 
cerning the state of the country and the societies than 
epistolary correspondence can give you ; and there might 
be a cement of union, remaining after your death, between 
the societies and preachers of the two countries. If the 
awful event of your decease should happen before my 
removal to the world of spirits, it is almost certain that I 
should have business enough, of indispensable importance, 
on my hands in these kingdoms." 



American Methodism. 



•71 



The following letter of Dr. Coke was sent by him, 
August 9, 1781, to Mr. Wesley, who was then in Wales 
on his way to Bristol : 

" Honored and Dear Sir : The more maturely I con- 
sider the subject, the more expedient it appears to me 
that the power of ordaining others should be received 
by me from you, by the imposition of your hands, and 
that you should lay hands on Brother Whatcoat and 
Brother Yasey, for the following reasons : First. It seems 
to me the most scriptural way and most agreeable to the 
practice of the primitive Churches. Second. I may want 
all the influence in America which you can throw into my 
scale. Mr. Brackenbury informed me at Leeds that he 
saw a letter in London from Mr. Asbury, in which he ob- 
served that he would not receive any person deputed by 
you with part of the superin tendency of the work invested 
in him, or words which evidently implied so much. I do 
not find any — the least degree — of prejudice in my mind 
against Mr. Asbury; on the contrary, a very great love and 
esteem, and am determined not to stir a finger without 
his consent, unless mere sheer necessity obliges me, but 
rather to lie at his feet in all things. But as the journey 
is long, and you cannot spare me often, and it is well to 
provide against all events, and an authority formally re- 
ceived from you will — I am conscious of it — be fully ad- 
mitted by the people, and my exercising the office of ordi- 
nation without that formal authority may be disputed if 
there be any oposition on any other account ; I could, 
therefore, earnestly wish that you would exercise that 
power, in this instance, which I have not the shadow of a 
doubt but God hath invested you with, for the good of our 
connection. I think you have tried me too often to doubt 
whether I will, in any degree, use the power you are pleased 
to invest me with further than I believe absolutely neces- 
sary for the prosperity of the work. Third. In respect to 



72 



Centennial History of 



my brethren, (Brothers Whatcoat and Vasey,) it is very 
uncertain, indeed, whether any of the clergy mentioned by 
Brother Rankin will stir a step with me in the work, ex- 
cept Mr. Jarrett — and is by no means certain that even 
he will choose to join me in ordaining — and propriety and 
universal practice make it expedient that I should have 
two presbyters with me in this work. In short, it apj>ears 
to me that every thing should be prepared, and every thing 
proper be done that can possibly be done this side the 

water. You can do all this in Mr. C n's house in your 

chamber, and afterward (according to Mr. Fletcher's ad- 
vice) give us letters testimonial of the different offices with 
which you have been pleased to invest us. For the pur- 
pose of laying hands on Brothers Whatcoat and Yasey, I 
can bring Mr. C. down with me, by which you will have 
two presbyters with you. In respect to Brother Rankin's 
argument that you will escape a great deal of odium by 
omitting this, it is nothing. Either it will be known or 
not known ; if not known then no odium will arise, but 
if known you will be obliged to acknowledge that I 
acted under your direction, or suffer me to sink under the 
weight of my enemies, with, perhaps, your brother at the 
head of them. I shall entreat you to ponder these things. 
" Your most dutiful T. Coke." 

The expression of Asbury, which Coke, in the above let- 
ter, says Mr. Brackenbury mentioned, in regard to his un- 
willingness to divide the superintendency with a person 
deputed by Wesley, may be illustrated by the follow- 
ing passage, in a letter of Asbury, dated West Jersey, 
September 20, 1783, a little less than a year before the 
ordination of Coke, and addressed to Mr. Wesley. Mr. 
Asbury says : " No person can manage the lay preachers 
here so well, it is thought, as one that has been at the rais- 
ing of most of them. No man can make a proper change 
upon paper to send one here and another [there] without 



American Methodism. 



73 



knowing the circuits and the gifts of all the preachers, un- 
less he is always out among them. My dear sir, a matter of 
the greatest consequence now lies before you. If you send 
preachers to America, let them be proper persons. We 
are now united ; all things go on well considering the 
storms and difficulties we have had to ride through. I wish 
men of the greatest understanding would write impartial 
accounts, for it would be better for us not to have preach- 
ers than to be divided. This I know, great men that can 
do good, may do hurt if they should take the wrong road. 
I have labored and suffered much to keep the people and 
preachers together, and if I am thought worthy to keep my 
place I should be willing to labor and suffer till death for 
peace and union." 

Exactly six months later Asbury again wrote to Wesley 
declaring that he had no fondness for power, but exercised 
it rather by necessity ; the welfare of the work making 
his rulership necessary, as he no doubt believed. He says : 
"You know, sir, it is not easy to rule, nor am I pleased 
with it ; I bear it as my cross, yet it seems that a necessity 
is laid upon me." 

Respecting the above letters of Dr. Coke to Mr. Wesley, 
nothing need be said here. The latter one is inserted in 
violation of the design to not introduce formal documents 
into this work, because it has a historical significance as a 
link in the chain of the evidence as to the steps taken by 
Mr. Wesley, in 1784, with respect to the Methodist soci- 
eties in the United States of America. 

In the sermon which he preached at the ordination of 
Bishop Asbury, Dr. Coke said that Mr. W esley, " after long- 
deliberation, saw it his duty to form his society in Amer- 
ica into an independent Church ; but he loved the most 
excellent liturgy of the Church of England, he loved its 
rites and ceremonies, and, therefore, adoj3ted them in most 
instances for the present case." 

Farther on in the sermon is this passage : " ' Why, then, 



Centennial History of 



did you not separate before ? ' It lias long been tlie desire 
of the preachers and people. But they submitted to the 
superior judgment of Mr. "Wesley, who, till the Revolu- 
tion, doubted the propriety of the step." 

The question is pertinent, In what sense did Dr. Coke 
here use the words " independent " and " separate ? " After 
the Christmas Conference Mr. Wesley, in his narration 
of what he had clone for the Methodists in the United 
States, said : " Whatever then is done, either in Amer- 
ica or Scotland, is no separation from the Church of 
England. I have no thought of this. I have many ob- 
jections to it." 

More than six years after the Christmas Conference Dr. 
Coke, in a letter to Bishop White, of the Protestant Epis- 
copal Church of Pennsylvania, refers to his action in that 
Conference, and expresses a doubt whether he did not tran- 
scend the authority which Mr. Wesley gave him. In that 
letter, dated April 24, 1791, more than a month after the 
death of Wesley, though that event was then evidently 
unknown to Coke, he says: "I am not sure but that 
I went farther in the separation of our Church in Amer- 
ica than Mr. Wesley, from whom I received my com- 
mission, did intend. He did, indeed, solemnly invest me, 
so far as he had a right so to do, with Episcopal authority, 
hut did not intend, I think, that our entire separation 
should take place"* This statement exhibits Coke's ulti- 
mate understanding of the scope of Wesley's plan. He 
also adds this weighty declaration : " This I am certain 
of, that he [Wesley] is now sorry for the separation." 
Thus we have Coke's authority for the fact that in the 
last days of his life Wesley regretted the action of the 
Christmas Conference in the matter of organizing an inde- 
pendent Episcopal Church. 

It seems quite clear that Coke understood Wesley's 
plan, with respect to the American societies, to be that in 

* I have put these very significant words of Dr. Coke in italics. 



American Methodism. 



view of their grave exigencies, they should have a more 
formal superintendency than that which was then exer- 
cised by Asbury, who was Wesley's general assistant ; 
and with that understanding he received ordination as 
General Superintendent from Wesley. 

The statement of Thomas Ware, in his letter of De- 
cember 1, 1828, that Dr. Coke, at the Christmas Con- 
ference, " argued " that " the plan of General Superin- 
tendency was in fact a species of Episcopacy '," indicates 
how the doctor, from the premise of his ordination as 
Superintendent, may have followed what he conceived 
to be a logical conclusion, and thus exceeded the letter 
while still supposing that he kept within the spirit of his 
instructions. He, however, advocated a separate Church 
organization, for, says Ware, in the letter just quoted 
from, " Dr. Coke was in favor of taking the name, Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church." That fact may have been in 
his recollection when, six years subsequently, he wrote : 
" I am not sure but that I went farther in the separa- 
tion of our Church in America than Mr. Wesley did in- 
tend." The question here arises : If Wesley planned an 
independent Church, why did he not suggest its name ? 
Why, in the discussion of the name by which it should 
be distinguished from other Churches, was not the wish of 
Wesley indicated ? There is no intimation that this was 
done. Says Thomas Ware : " The question arose, ' What 
name or title shall we take ? ' I thought I should be satis- 
fied that we be denominated the Methodist Church, and 
so whispered to a brother sitting near me. But one 
proposed, I think it was John Dickins, that we should 
adopt the title of the Methodist Episcopal Church." 
Tyerman, in his " Life and Times of Wesley," says : " We 
have no fault to find with the American Methodists being 
called the Methodist Episcopal Church. They have the 
fullest right to such a designation if they choose to use it ; 
but it was a name which Wesley never used." 



76 



Centennial History of 



The next point in this question is : "What understand- 
ing had the members of the Christmas Conference, con- 
cerning Mr. Wesley's intention, with respect to a separate 
Church ? 

Freeborn Garrettson was a conspicuous member of that 
remarkable Conference. Respecting this question he 
speaks explicitly, in a letter addressed to the Rev. Alexan- 
der M'Caine, of the date of September 29, 1826, and pub- 
lished in the " Methodist Quarterly Review" in 1830. 
These are Mr. Garrettson' s words : " I am fully of opinion 
the Christmas Conference were authorized by Mr. Wesley, 
to organize themselves under an Episcopal form of Church 
government. . . . Nearly forty years have passed away, 
and I cannot charge my mind with every minutia ; how- 
ever, instructions were communicated from Mr. Wesley, 
and as we were all young, humble, happy, and sincere, 
and well pleased with what he offered, I doubt not but 
that we followed his wishes to a punctilio" 

Thomas Ware, in an article on " The Christmas Confer- 
ence of 1784," published in the "Methodist Quarterly Re- 
view " in 1832, says : " We had met to congratulate each 
other and to praise the Lord for having raised the mind of 
our excellent Wesley above the fable of uninterrupted suc- 
cession, and thereby paved our way to the delightful privi- 
leges we were henceforth to enjoy. The order of things de- 
vised by him for our organization, as a Church, filled us with 
solemn delight. It corresponded with what we did suppose 
we had a right to expect our God would do for us. We did, 
therefore, according to the best of our knowledge, receive 
and follow the advice of Mr. Wesley." In the letter of 
December 1, 1828, from which we have quoted, Ware 
says-: "I am fully persuaded the preachers in 1784 be- 
lieved they were acting in accordance with the will of Mr. 
Wesley, when they adopted the Episcopal form, or the 
plan of the General Superintendency." Mr. Ware, how- 
ever, in this letter, concedes that in giving to that plan the 



American Methodism. 



77 



title of " Episcopal," the Conference violated Mr. Wesley's 
wish, for lie says : " This plan we knew Mr. Wesley ap- 
proved, and we called it Episcopal. I did not helieve 
Mr. Wesley wished us to give it that appellation " * This 
last statement of Mr. Ware may be accepted as proof that 
Dr. Coke did not misrepresent Mr. Wesley's views to the 
Conference respecting the use of the term " Episcopal." 

William Phoebus, who was a member of the Christmas 
Conference, wrote a Defense of Methodist Ordination, 
in which he says that Wesley ordained Coke as "his 
apostle or messenger to us, with outlines of advice 
for us to adopt, as we saw most conducive to the general 
good, recommending to us the New Testament for our pat- 
temP Phoebus says, Wesley sent "outlines of advice;" 
Ware says, the Conference did receive and follow " the ad- 
vice of Mr. Wesley;" Garrettson says, " instructions were 
communicated from Mr. Wesley." Respecting Coke's 
action, Phoebus says : " We assembled at the city of Bal- 
timore, in the State of Maryland, and received Thomas 
Coke, LL.D., with his testimonials from the greatest man 
to us in the world. He proceeded to form the first Church 
that ever was organized under a pure republican govern- 
ment, and the first that was ever formed in this happy 
part of the world. In the year of our Lord 1785, and in 
the ninth year of the independence of the United States, 
on the first day of January, we thought it not robbery to 
call our society a Church, having in it, and of it, several 
presbyters and a President." f 

William Watters, the first traveling preacher of Amer- 
ican birth, was also a member of the General Conference 
of 1784. In regard to the understanding which the 
preachers had of Wesley's design respecting the organiza- 
tion of a Church, Watters says: "We formed ourselves 

* The italics are mine. 

f Quoted in Myles's " Chronological History of the People called Method- 
ists," p. 165. 



78 



Centennial History of 



into a separate Church. This change was proposed to 
us by Mr. Wesley after we had craved his advice on the 
subject, but could not take effect until adopted by us ; 
which was done in a deliberate, formal manner, at a Con- 
ference called for that purpose, in which there was not 
one dissenting voice. Every one, of any discernment, must 
see from Mr. Wesley's 'Circular Letter ' on this occasion, as 
well as from every part of our mode of Church govern- 
ment, that we openly and avowedly declared ourselves 
Episcopalians, though the doctor and Mr. Asbury were 
called Superintendents." * 

Watters here speaks of Wesley's " Circular Letter," 
but does not mention any other written instructions. 
Ware says this letter was read and analyzed by the Con- 
ference, but he does not say that any other written com- 
munication from Wesley was received. That famous " Cir- 
cular Letter," then, dated Bristol, September 10, 1784, 
and addressed to " Dr. Coke, Francis Asbury, and our 
brethren in Xorth America," contained the outline of ad- 
vice which Phoebus says Wesley furnished, and the " ad- 
vice," as Ware calls it, and the "instructions" mentioned 
by Garrettson. The letter says nothing about calling a 
Conference or organizing an independent Church ; yet, 
read in the light of Coke's ordination and the provision 
of a creed and a liturgy by Wesley, it was, no doubt, 
interpreted by the preachers as authority for the construc- 
tion of a Church of an Episcopal form. As Wesley did 
not anticipate a Conference, he wrote no directions for 
its guidance. Coke had not anticipated a General Con- 
ference, there is reason to believe, until he met As- 
bury, and so could not advise with Wesley resjDecting 
it. Therefore, with the instructions he received from 
Wesley, and the further light given him by Asbury and 
the American preachers, he did, it may be assumed, what 
to him seemed best in the exigencies of the situation. In 

* Autobiography of Watters, p. 104. 



American Methodism. 



79 



the exercise of an embassador's discretionary power, he 
might innocently, perhaps, have exceeded Wesley's design 
by promoting the project of forming an independent Epis- 
copal Church. 

The truth of history, respecting this matter, appears to 
be : First. That Wesley, in ordaining Coke as General 
Superintendent and appointing Asbury to the same office, 
and in providing a creed and a liturgy, did propose a 
more distinctive ecclesiastical government for the Amer- 
ican societies than they had previously enjoyed. Second. 
Mr. Wesley did not intend that that more formal govern- 
ment should lead to their severance from his authority as 
the chief ruler of Methodism, nor from " the doctrine and 
discipline of the Church of England.'' Third. Wesley did 
not anticipate the convening of a General Conference to 
consider his action, and, therefore, never wrote any in- 
structions for such an assembly. He did appoint Coke 
and Asbury Superintendents, without suspecting that his 
appointments would be subjected to the ratification of a 
Conference. Fourth. Asbury refused to accept the super- 
intendency from Wesley, and would only receive it from 
the preachers. Fifth. Upon consultation, in the presence 
of Coke and Asbury, several preachers agreed to call a 
General Conference in Baltimore, the 2-ith day of De- 
cember, 1784. That Conference believed itself to be in- 
vested with full legislative powers, and competent to de- 
termine, by vote, what measures should be accepted 
and adopted for the government of the Methodists in 
America. Sixth. Had Mr. Asbury accepted the super- 
intendency from Mr. Wesley without insisting upon the 
right of the preachers to elect superintendents, it is 
probable that a Conference would not have been called, 
and in that case a ■ separate Church would not then have 
been formed by the American preachers. Seventh. The 
Conference deferred to Mr. Wesley's views, so far as 
they were understood. Accordingly, it adopted his plan 



80 



Centennial History of 



of a General Superintendence, which it made elective, 
and which it interpreted to mean an Episcopal form 
of Church government, and elected Thomas Coke and 
Francis Asbury to be the incumbents of the new office. 
Eighth. In the exercise of what the Christmas Conference 
believed to be its inherent legislative powers, it organized 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, thereby totally separating 
Methodism in America from the Church of England, and, 
as was soon shown, from the government of Mr. Wesley. 
Ninth. This particular action Mr. Wesley did not design 
nor desire, nor did he intend that his acts and " advice " 
should be so interpreted. When he became fully aware 
that the separation of the Societies in America from the 
Church of England and from his own jurisdiction was com- 
plete, lie regretted the action of the Conference in that 
particular, and continued to be sorry for it until his death. 

Notwithstanding the American Methodists were, by the 
Christmas Conference, divorced from all ecclesiastical 
relations with the Church of England, they did not, as 
has been shown, at once openly renounce, but acknowl- 
edged, submission to Mr. Wesley. The declaration at 
Baltimore of submission to him may have led him to 
think that the act of organizing the Church had less 
significance, in disjoining American Methodism from the 
Church of England and from his jurisdiction, than the 
Conference attached to it. If so, he soon learned what the 
Methodists in this country at once understood, in the lan- 
guage of one of the ablest leaders of the new Church : 
" From that time the Methodist societies in the United 
States became an independent Church, under the Episcopal 
mode and form of government, designing, professing, and 
resolving to follow the Scriptures and the primitive Church, 
according to the advice of Mr. Wesley, and in perfect uni- 
son with the views, the opinions, and wishes of Mr. 
Asbury." * 

* The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, " Sermon on Asbury," p. 109. 



American Methodism. 



81 



It seems clear that, having suffered during the Revo- 
lution from the publication of Mr. Wesley's political 
opinions, and from the course in that particular of the 
preachers he sent hither ; and the independence of the 
United States having been established, and the neces- 
sity of adequate provision for the sacraments and a home 
government having been long and sorely felt, the Amer- 
ican Methodists were inclined to organize an independ- 
ent Church. All the testimony goes to show that the 
preachers who composed the Christmas Conference were 
unanimously and heartily in favor of that measure. It is also 
clear, that, whatever Wesley designed, they understood that 
such an organization was in accordance with his intention. 
As Americans, and American Christians and Methodists, 
there can be no doubt that it was their right to declare for 
a separate Church. Such a Church, formed by the preach- 
ers as the representatives of the societies, under the con- 
ditions by which they were convened in General Confer- 
ence, and accepted by the people heartily and thankfully, 
as was done, was and is a true and valid Church of Jesus 
Christ. The American Methodists had the right and the 
power, under God, with or without the consent of Mr. 
Wesley, to establish the ecclesiastical fabric which they 
named the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

Was Mr. Wesley satisfied with the organization and admin- 
istration of the new Church ? Asbury wrote to Benson, " I 
can truly say for one, that the greatest affliction and sorrow 
of my life was that our dear father, from the time of the Rev- 
olution to his death, grew more and more jealous of my- 
self, and the whole American Connection ; and that it ap- 
peared we had lost his confidence entirely. 1 ' Mr. Asbury 
attributed Wesley's attitude toward him largely to Rankin. 
He says, " Dr. Coke said that as often as he [Wesley] went 
to see Diotrephes, [Rankin,] he came back with his mind 
strangely agitated and dissatisfied with the American Con- 
nection ; and that he did not know what to do to put him 
4* 



82 



Centennial History of 



to rights." Pawson, one of the preachers Wesley sent to 
Scotland in 1785, in a letter quoted by Tyerman, says that 
Wesley, " a few months before his death, was so annoyed 
with Dr. Coke's conduct, in persuading the people to de- 
part from the original plan, that he threatened in a letter 
to have no more to do with him, unless he desisted from 
such a procedure." * 

There was trouble, also, with Vasey, whom Wesley sent 
to America with Coke. On July 28, 1787, Asbury reached 
Philadelphia, where he says, " Here I found T. Y. [Vasey] 
had scattered firebrands and thrown dirt to bespatter us." 
A few days later he writes, " I find T. Y. [Yasey] lias 
misrepresented us as having cast off Mr. Wesley, making 
this a plea for his reordination." It seems evident that 
when the separate and independent organization of Amer- 
ican Methodism became fully apparent to Wesley, and he 
found his authority over it had thereby ceased, his dis- 
pleasure became manifest. He never designed to be other 
than the chief ruler of Methodism in the two hemispheres. 
He doubtless believed God had intrusted him with such 
authority, and that he was responsible to him for its exer- 
cise. The rejection of that authority by his children in 
America was to him a severe trial. The Methodist Epis- 
copal Church wisely declared its independence, not only 
of the English Church, but also of the ecclesiastical control 
of Mr. Wesley. It was painful to know that this grieved 
the venerated Wesley, but it was inevitable. 

The Methodist Episcopal Church, at and after the Balti- 
more Conference of the year 1787, was the Church of As- 
bury. At that Conference Dr. Coke was put within limits. 
He had, as was thought, carried his authority too far, and 
the preachers did not hesitate to restrain him. Concern- 
ing this transaction the Rev William Phoebus says : " The 
motion to remove his [Wesley's] name having a second, 
was debated and carried in the affirmative. They soon 

* Tyerman's "Life of Wesley," vol, iii, p. 443. 



Amekican Methodism. 



83 



turned their attention to his son, Coke, supposing his ju- 
risdiction an imposition, as he would still possess the su- 
preme rule, and it was feared that he would abuse that 
power. To prevent the abuse of it was talked of in a 
desultory and in a menacing way, till Dr. Coke, to free 
them from their fears, or pretended fears, said he would 
relinquish his power as Superintendent, so far as it re- 
spected supreme jurisdiction and supreme rule ; and that 
he would claim no authority but to preside when Confer- 
ence did convene ; so he consented to become a mere 
moderator rather than to have his name left off the Min- 
utes. Seeing they had prevailed so far, some asked more 
than his word ; so he gave them his bond for the fulfil- 
ment of his promise."* The Conference thus accepted 
from Bishop Coke the following instrument : 

" I do solemnly engage by this instrument that I never 
will, by virtue of my office as Superintendent of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church during my absence from the United 
States of America, exercise any government whatever in 
the said Methodist Church during my absence from the 
United States. And I do also engage that I will exercise 
no privilege in the said Church when present in the United 
States, except that of ordaining, according to the regula- 
tions and law already existing or hereafter to be made in 
the said Church, and that of presiding when present in 
Conference, and lastly that of traveling at large. Given 
under my hand, the second day of May, in the year ITS 7. 

"Thomas Coke. 

" Witnesses : John Tunnell, John Haggekty, Kelson 
Keed." 

In the next Minutes was the following insertion, " Who 
are the Superintendents of our Church for the United 
States ? Thomas Coke, (when present in the States,) and 

* "Memoirs of Whatcoat," by Phoebus, pp. 64, 65. 



84 



Centennial History of 



Francis Asbury." Here, for the first time, the name of Mr. 
Wesley is omitted. 

Henceforth Francis Asbnry was recognized as, what he 
had long in fact been, the governing mind of American 
Methodism. He was the Wesley of the ISTew World. " I 
assume it as a fact," says one of his great contemporaries, 
" that Francis Asbury was the father of the system which 
goes under the same of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
Without his agency and influence it never would have been 
what it now is. Mr. Wesley and Dr. Coke might have 
written, but their theories would have remained, in a great 
measure, a dead letter. The vast ability with which this 
great man presided over these elements was fully equaled 
by his sincerity. He had the utmost confidence in the 
plan as the best that could be devised to promote the work 
of God in this country."* 

The Methodist Episcopal Church is, indeed, the prod- 
uct, in a large degree, of Asbury's brain and heart, and 
almost every part of its organism shows the touch of his 
masterful hand. Had he, like the other English preach- 
ers, left the country during the Revolution, it is doubtful 
whether this wonderful ecclesiastical structure would have 
risen. Upon it is impressed the mind, the zeal, and the 
amazing work of Francis Asbury. It stands as the mighty 
monument of his heroic devotion, and of his apostolic faith 
and labors. 

*The Rev. Nicholas Snetlien, " Wesleyan Repository," vol. iii, 1823, p. 75. 



American Methodism. 



85 



CHAPTEE IT. 

THE SUPEPJNTEXDEXCY OR EPISCOPATE. 

THE office of Superintendent, to whicji Mr. Wesley 
appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury, was not different, 
except in one particular, from that of General Assistant, 
which was previously administered by Mr. Asbury and 
Mr. Rankin. The General Assistant did not possess the 
power of ordination, while the Superintendent was invested 
with that power. 

The General Assistant was the deputy of Wesley. He 
bore an authority which, had he been in this country, Mr. 
Wesley would have personally executed. As he could not 
be here in person, he exercised his power, as the chief 
ruler of Methodism, first through Mr. Asbury, then Ran- 
kin, and again Asbury. 

In appointing Superintendents, Mr. Wesley, so far as 
can be ascertained from his utterances, designed simply 
to provide the sacraments permanently for the Amer- 
ican Methodists, by establishing a succession of or- 
dained ministers among them. Except for this he 
would not have appointed Superintendents. The sac- 
raments had been withheld so long, and the urgency of 
the growing cause with respect to them was so great, 
that Mr. Wesley knew that if he did not make pro- 
vision for the exigency speedily, the preachers and 
societies would adopt measures for the administra- 
tion of the ordinances independently of him, and 
that thus Methodism in the United States would be 
put beyond his jurisdiction. As he could not go to 
America to ordain, he delegated Coke for that pur- 
pose. With the new power of ordination with which it 



8G 



Centennial History of 



was invested, the supervisory office was changed by 
Wesley from General Assistant to Superintendent. 
The Superintendent, in Wesley's view, was his per- 
sonal agent, or embassador, and was so attested by the 
imposition of his hands, and by letters testimonial of that 
fact. 

In the Church of England, to which Wesley and Coke 
adhered, the pQwer to ordain belonged exclusively to the 
Episcopal order. None but a Bishop could confer ordina- 
tion. Mr. Wesley came to see that the order of Presbyter 
and that of Bishop were the same. Hence, as a Presbyter 
of the Church, he conceived that he was entitled, in the 
exigencies that had risen, to exercise the prerogative which, 
according to the canons, appertained to the Episcopate 
alone. Thus he ordained Whatcoat and Yasey. He wrote 
in his Journal, September 1, 17-84 : " Being now clear in 
my own mind, I took a step, which I had long weighed 
in my mind, and appointed Mr. Whatcoat and Mr. 
Yasey to go and serve the desolate sheep in America." 
He likewise consecrated Coke to the Superintendency 
with a view to his ordaining preachers in the United 
States. 

Now, in consecrating Dr. Coke to the office of Superin- 
tendent, did Mr. Wesley cling to any sacerdotal idea of 
Episcopacy, and make a Bishop ? Dr. Coke seems to set 
forth that he did. Four and a half years after the Christ- 
mas Conference, there was inserted in the Discipline 
for the first time the following significant declaration, 
apparently written by Dr. Coke : " Preferring the Epis- 
copal mode of Church government to any other, he 
[Wesley] solemnly set apart, by the imposition of his 
hands, and prayer, Thomas Coke, Doctor of Civil Law, late 
of Jesus College, in the University of Oxford, for the 
Episcopal office, and having delivered to him letters of 
Episcopal orders, commissioned and directed him to set 
apart Francis Asbury, then General Assistant of the 



American Methodism. 



87 



Methodist society in America, for the same Episcopal 
office."* 

From all that appears in Wesley's utterances in relation 
to this matter, he did not intend to make Coke a Bishop. 
He, as an English Churchman, may have preferred the 
Episcopal mode or form; but it is far from clear that 
he meant to plant any thing but the form of Episco- 
pacy in this country. He certainly did not mean to en- 
graft its substance into the Methodism of the Western 
hemisphere. The utmost which episcopal theorists could 
justly claim in the light of Wesley's recorded utterances, 
was that he gave to America the form — the body of Epis- 
copacy without the spirit. His simple purpose seems to 
have been to provide the holy sacraments for the numerous 
Methodists in the United States by means of a Presbyterial 
Superintendency. 

Dr. Coke, in accepting from Wesley the power to or- 
dain, desired and sought the imposition of Wesley's hands. 
This is apparent in the letter he wrote to Wesley, August 
9, 1784, and which is inserted on pages 71 and 72 of 
this volume. How far Mr. Wesley was influenced by the 
importunity of Coke to lay hands upon him it is not pos- 
sible to say. It is, however, clear that Coke saw that Wes- 
ley hesitated to ordain him, for otherwise he could have had 
no motive for writing such a letter. The ordination of 
Coke was not, as Wesley understood it, Episcopal, accord- 
ing to the ordinary signification of that term, but Pres- 
byterial ; and, as Coke's letter to Wesley suggests, it was 
• apparently meant to provide against the criticisms and op- 
position which the exercise of the ordaining power ~by Coke 
might possibly provoke in America. Wesley's intimate 

* "A form of Discipline for the Ministers, Preachers, and Members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church in America, Considered and Approved at a 
Conference held in Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, on Monday, the 27th 
of December, 1734, in which Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury presided." 
TLe Fifth Edition. New York. 1789, p. 4. 



ss 



Centennial HistopwY of 



friend, the Kev. Henry Moore, says : " The doctor cer- ■ 
tainly needed all the influence and authority which Mr. 
Wesley could give him, and if he chose to give it to him 
according to the forms of the Church of England, which 
he loved, and which is so truly venerable, who has a right 
to find fault with him." * 

Dr. Coke, with all his excellence, was not, as we shall 
hereafter see, altogether free from human weaknesses. He 
had a fondness for the word " Episcopal." He argued 
in the Christmas Conference that the Superintendency, to 
which Mr. Wesley set him apart by the imposition of 
hands, " was, in fact, a species of Episcopacy." He favored 
the adoption of the name, " Methodist Episcopal Church." 
John Dickins was freely consulted by Coke, and it is 
not improbable that he acted in accordance with Coke's 
expressed wish when he proposed that name in the Con- 
ference. The use of the word " Episcopal," as applied to 
the new Church, was in known opposition to the wish of 
Wesley, for Mr. Ware says : " I did not believe Mr. Wes- 
ley wished us to give it that appellation." f 

In the earliest edition of the Discipline of 178i the 
words Episcopal, Episcopacy, and Bishop did not appear, 
except that the word " Episcopal" appeared as a part of 
the name of the Church ; nor did either of those words 
appear otherwise in the Minutes or the Discipline until 
more than two years subsequently. 

There is no evidence that the word " Bishop " was used by 
the Conference which organized the Church. The Super- 
intendency which Wesley provided was accepted and • 
adopted. The two men whom he appointed to serve in 
that capacity were also elected and placed under the abso- 
lute control of the Conference. The new Church thus 
went forth with two General Superintendents at its head, 
but no Bishops. For Wesley did not appoint Bishops, nor 

* Moore's " Life of Wesley." 

f See Ware's statement, p. 11 of this volume. 



American Methodism. 



89 



did the Christmas Conference elect such officers. They 
were General Superintendents. 

It appears, however, that, after a time, the Superintend- 
ents came to regard themselves as Bishops. Sometime in 
the year 1787 "Mr. Asbury reprinted the General Min- 
utes, but in a different form from what they were before. 
The third question in the second section, and the answer, 
read thus : 

" 'Q. Is there any other business to be done in the Con- 
ference ? 

" 'A. The electing and ordaining of Bishops, Elders, 
and Deacons.' 

" This was the first time that our Superintendents ever 
gave themselves the title of Bishops in the Minutes. They 
changed the title themselves without the consent of the 
Conference, and at the next Conference they asked the 
preachers if the word 6 Bishop' might stand in the Min- 
utes, seeing that it was a Scripture name, and the mean- 
ing of the word Bishop was the same as that of Superin- 
tendent. 

" Some of the preachers opposed the alteration and 
wished to retain the former title ; but a majority of the 
preachers agreed to let the word 'Bishop ' remain, and in the 
Annual Minutes for the next year the first question is, 
'Who are the Bishops of our Church for the United 
States?' 

" In the third section of this form of Discipline, and in 
the sixth page, it is said, c We have constituted ourselves 
into an Episcopal Church, under the direction of Bishops^ 
Elders, Deacons, and Preachers, according to the form of 
ordination annexed to our prayer booh, and the regulations 
laid down in this form of Discipline.' From that time the 
name of Bishop has been in common use among us, both 
in conversation and in writing." * 

Such a notable procedure required explanation and 

* Lee's '• History of the Methodists." pp. 127, 128. 



90 



Centennial History of 



justification. Therefore a note was inserted in the Min- 
utes as follows : " As the translators of our version of the 
Bible have used the English word Bishop instead of 
Superintendent, it has been thought by us that it would 
appear more scriptural to adopt their term, Bishop." 

Thus, by the act of the Superintendents, and the sub- 
sequent ratification of that act by the Conference, the 
office of Superintendent, which originated with Mr. Wes- 
ley, was changed to that of Bishop. It lias, indeed, 
been claimed that there was no change of the office ; 
only of the name. Still the office now became widely 
recognized, as we shall soon see, as a Bishopric, with all 
that the word in its ecclesiastical usage implied ; whereas, 
previously, it was known simply and only as a Superint en- 
den cy. 

"Was Wesley indifferent to this change ? By no means. 
On the contrary, his displeasure was shown in very plain 
if not sharp words, which he promptly addressed to Mr. 
Asbury. The letter is dated, London, September 20, 
1788, and the portion of it which the Rev. Henry Moore, 
who was with Wesley when he wrote it, published, is as 
follows : 

" There is, indeed, a vast difference between the relation 
wherein you stand to the Americans, and the relation 
wherein I stand to all the Methodists. You are the elder 
brother of the American Methodists ; I am, under God, 
the father of the whole family. Therefore I naturally 
care for you all in a manner no other person can do. 
Therefore I in a measure provide for you all ; for the sup- 
plies which Dr. Coke provides for you he could not pro- 
vide were it not for me — were it not that I, not only per- 
mit him to collect, but support him in so doing. 

" But in one point, my dear brother, I am a little afraid 
both the doctor and you differ from me. I study to be 
little, you study to be great; I creep, you strut along ; I 



American Methodism. 



91 



found a school, yon a college. Nay, and call it after your 
own names. O beware ! Do not seek to be something / 
Let me be nothing, and Christ be all in all. 

" One instance of this your greatness has given me 
great concern. How can you, how dare you, suffer your- 
self to be called a Bishop ? I shudder, I start at the very 
thought. Men may call me a knave or a, fool, a rascal, a 
scoundrel, and I am content ; but they shall never by my 
consent call me a Bishop. For my sake, for God's sake, 
for Christ's sake, put a full end to this ! Let the Presby- 
terians do what they please, but let the Methodists know 
their calling better. 

" Thus, my dear Franky, I have told you all that is in 
my heart ; and let this, when I am no more seen, bear wit- 
ness how sincerely 

" I am your affectionate friend and brother, 

" John Wesley." 

In the presence of such declarations, and of such an out- 
burst of indignant affection, it would be uncandid to say 
that Mr. Wesley constituted Dr. Coke a Bishop, or that 
an Episcopate, in the established sense of that word, was 
the product of his brain and heart. All that he ever 
gave to the American Methodists, in this particular, was 
a simple Superintendence subject to his guidance and 
control, and the tenure of which was limited by his pleas- 
ure. When it became other than that, it ceased to be the 
Superintendency of Wesley. Yet Dr. Coke in his Journal, 
published in Philadelphia, in 1789, said: "I ordained 
Brother Asbury a Bishop." * 

The American Methodists had the power to adopt such 
regulations and to create such ecclesiastical officers as they 
chose. The substitution of the word " Bishop " for " Super- 

* The word Bishop had but one signification in the Church of England, 
namely, that of a superior ecclesiastical order. As Coke did not here qualify 
the word, it conveyed the sense which its ancient usage gave to it. 



92 



Centennial History of 



intendent," though done by competent authority, was not 
approved by all the American preachers, any more than 
it was by Wesley. The devout and venerable Freeborn 
Garrettson, one of the most distinguished members of the 
Christmas Conference, wrote, in 1826 : " Mr. Wesley gave 
us the word 'Superintendent,' instead of 'Bishop,' and the 
change of the word was cause of grief to that dear old 
saint, and so it was to me. Were it in my power to 
replace the word ' Superintendent,' it should be done." * 
It will be observed that the title of Bishop was not assumed 
by the Superintendents until after the declaration of sub- 
mission to Wesley was expunged in 1787 by the Conference 
at Baltimore. 

The fact that Mr. Wesley claimed the right to control 
-the Superintendents, and to remove them from office at 
his will, and even to recall them to Europe, shows that he 
did not consider the office a regular Episcopate.f If Coke 
and Asbury were Bishops, by virtue of his will and act, 
then, in his own view, Wesley must have been a Bishop 
of Bishops or, in other words, an Archbishop, as it was his 
design that they should continue as they began, in subor. 
dination to him. Wesley expressly declared, however, that 
there should be no Archbishops among the Methodists. 

When Mr. Wesley speaks for himself, in relation to his 
opinions 'or acts, his words carry higher authority than 
the words of any man whatsoever who undertakes to 
speak for him respecting the same matters. Therefore as 
between Dr. Coke's representations of Wesley's view of the 
Episcopate, and his own statement of his opinion thereof, 
the weight of authority is with Wesley. Coke, in his let- 
ter to Bishop White, said that Mr. Wesley did solemnly 
invest him, " so far as he had a right so to do, with Epis- 
copal authority ; " that is to say, he invested him to the 
extent that he could with a third ministerial order. In 

* "Methodist Quarterly Review," vol. xii, 1830, p. 341. 
f See p. 57 of this volume. 



American Methodism. 



93 



the Discipline, of the edition of 1789, as we hare seen, 
he says that Wesley set him apart " for the Episcopal office," 
and delivered to him " letters of Episcopal orders." Wes- 
ley, on the contrary, declared that he believed the order 
of Presbyter and that of Bishop to be one and the same. 
As Coke was already a Presbyter, and Wesley believed 
in no higher order, he surely could not have thought of 
conferring upon him an Episcopal order. Yet Bishop 
White, as a Churchman, would understand Coke's use of 
the word " Episcopal," in the above statement addressed 
to him, to signify that Wesley tried, to the extent of 
his power, to make him a Bishop in the sense which 
that word, unexplained, carries ; and Coke knew it would 
convey that significance to the Bishop. 

In that biography of Wesley which is the product of the 
joint authorship of Coke and Moore, Dr. Coke does not 
claim to have received Episcopal orders from Mr. Wesley. 
In relation to this matter the following passage occurs : 
" At the Conference held in Leeds in 1784, he [Wesley] 
declared his intention of sending Dr. Coke and some 
preachers to America. Mr. Richard Whatcoat and Mr. 
Thomas Vasey offered themselves as missionaries for that 
purpose, and were accepted. Before they sailed, Mr. 
Wesley abridged the Common Prayer-book of the Church 
of England, and wrote to Dr. Coke, then in London, de- 
siring him to meet him in Bristol, to receive fuller powers, 
and to bring the Rev. Mr. Creighton with him. The 
doctor and Mr. Creighton accordingly met him in Bristol, 
where with their assistance he ordained Mr. Richard What- 
coat and Mr. Thomas Yasey Presbyters for America; and 
being peculiarly attached to every rite of the Church of 
England, did afterward ordain Dr. Coke a Superintendent, 
giving him letters of ordination under his hand and seal." * 

* " The Life of the Rev. John Wesley. A.M.," by Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore, 
London, 1792. This is not the same as Moore's "Life of Wesley," else- 
where quoted in these pages. 



94: Centennial History of 

Between Coke's utterances and acts, and Wesley's words, 
there are apparent discrepancies which cannot be removed 
by accepting the hypothesis that Coke had a clear under- 
standing of the views and intentions of his chief. Coke 
declares explicitly that he made Asbury a Bishop at 
the Christmas Conference in 1784. We repeat his words : 
' I ordained Brother Asbury a Bishop." * He also says : 
" Brother Asbury has so high an opinion of Mr. Otterbein, 
that we admitted him at Brother Asbury's desire to lay his 
hands on Brother Asbury with us when he was ordained a 
Bishop." f Coke's relation to Wesley was such, that his 
claim that he ordained Asbury a Bishop implied that he did 
so by the authority conferred upon him by Wesley's hands. 
Wesley wrote Asbury after the word " Bishop " superseded 
that of " Superintendent" in the Minutes: "How can you, 
how dare you, suffer yourself to be called a Bishop? I 
shudder, I start at the very thought." If Wesley contem- 
plated an Episcopate, and considered Asbury a Bishop, by 
virtue of Coke's ordination, it is inexplicable that he should 
have shuddered at his being designated by the name. The 
thing and the name belong of right to each other. 

The Rev. Henry Moore who was the close friend of 
Mr. Wesley, says : " With respect to the title of Bishop, 
I know that Mr. Wesley enjoined the doctor and his asso- 
ciates, in the most solemn manner, that it should not be 
taken. In this and in every similar deviation I cannot be 
the apologist of Dr. Coke." J In answering a letter from 
the Rev. Charles Wesley, censuring him for ordaining, Mr. 
Wesley said : " I firmly believe I am a scriptural episcopos, 
as much as any man in England or in Europe." To which 

* Coke's Journal in Philadelphia "Arminian Magazine," 1789, p. 291. 
It is observed that in the volume of his Journal, which was published in 
London in 1793, Coke does not use this expression. Indeed, in that book 
there is no allusion at all to the ordination of Asbury. 

f Philadelphia "Arminian Magazine," 1789, p. 291. 

\ Moore's " Life of Wesley." 



American Methodism. 



95 



Charles replied : " That you are a scriptural episcopos, or 
overseer, I do not dispute, and so is every minister who 
has the care of souls." Mr. Moore says: "He gave to 
those episcopoi whom he ordained, the modest, but highly 
expressive title of Superintendents, and desired that no 
other might be used." * 

The declaration of Mr. Wesley, in his letter of September 
13, 1785, to his brother Charles, that Coke " has done noth- 
ing rashly, that I know," has been confidently quoted to re- 
fute the allegation that at the Christmas Conference Coke 
exceeded the authority with which Wesley invested him. 
Had Mr. Wesley then known that Coke claimed that he 
ordained Asbury a Bishop, would he thus have exculpated 
him from the charge of rashness? "I can state," says 
the Rev. Henry Moore, " that Mr. Wesley never gave his 
sanction to any of these things ; nor was he the author of 
one line of all that Dr. Coke published in America on this 
subject. His views on these points were very different 
from those of his zealous son in the Gospel. He knew that 
a work of God neither needed, nor could be truly aided, 
nor could recommend itself to pious minds, by such 
additions." f 

The word " Bishop " having been substituted for Wes- 
ley's term " Superintendent," it carried with it the 
idea that the office of Bishop was more than an "office;" 
that in fact it was a separate and superior ministerial 
" order." This could scarcely have been otherwise, in 
view of the current significance of the word ; but such a 
result would not have followed had Wesley's word " Super- 
intendent " been retained, and the word "Bishop," as he 
requested and insisted, been discarded. 

Previous to the General Conference of 1792 the Rev. 
Thomas Morrell held forth the third order theory, in his 
reply to Hammett's attack upon the Church. He said : 
" In our ordination office we have the manner in which 

* Moore's " Life of Wesley." f Moore's " Life of Wesley." 



96 



Centennial Histoey of 



each of these three orders are to be ordained, the ques- 
tions to be asked, and the reply they are each to make. 
Distinct ordination proves a different degree of order." 

At the General Conference of 1796 the logical outcome 
of the previous transactions of the Superintendents and 
preachers, in relation to Episcopacy, became manifest by 
the sacramental theory of the office assuming a degree of 
tangibleness. In that Conference it was moved that an 
addition of one be made to the Episcopacy. The Rev. 
"William Phoebus says : " The question before the house 
was, ' If Francis Asbury's seat as Superintendent be vaca- 
ted by death, or otherwise, was Dr. Coke considered, from 
the authority he had in the Church, as having a right to 
take the Superintendency in the same manner as it was 
exercised by Francis Asbury? 3 Dr. Coke was then 
asked, if he would be ready to come to the United States 
and reside there, if he were called to take the charge as 
Superintendent, so that there might be a succession from 
Wesley. He agreed, as soon as he should be able to 
settle his charge in Europe, with all pleasure and possi- 
ble dispatch to come and spend his days in America.* 
The Eev. Superintendent Asbury then reached out his 
right hand in a pathetic speech, the purport of which was : 
'Our enemies said we were divided, but all past griev- 
ances were buried, and friends at first, are friends at last, 
and I hope never to be divided.' 

" The doctor took his right hand in token of submission, 

while many present were in tears of joy to see the happy 

* Dr. Coke's agreement, at the General Conference of 1796, is as follows: 
"I offer myself to my American brethren entirely to their service, all I 
am and have, with my talents and labors in eveiy respect; without any 
mental reservation whatsoever, to labor among them and to assist Bishop 
Asbury : not to station the Preachers at any time when he is present, but to ex 
ercise all Episcopal duties, when I hold a Conference in his absence, and by 
his consent, and to visit the West Indies and France, when there is an open- 
ing, and I can be spared. 

"Signed, Thomas Coke. 

"Conference Room. Baltimore, October , 27, 1796." 



American Methodism. 



97 



union in the heads of department, and from a prospect of 
the Wesleyan Episcopacy being likely to continue in reg- 
ular order and succession" * 

According to Phoebus this view of the Episcopacy had 
further confirmation and demonstration in the succeeding 
General Conference. Phoebus says : " At a General Con- 
ference in 1800 a resolution passed to strengthen the 
Episcopacy by adding a third. There were two principal 
candidates in nomination. But such as thought correctly 
perceived that it could not be strengthened if one should 
be joined to it who was not convinced that such an order 
was apostolic. He would see no necessity to submit to 
such an ordination, nor to defend it if he thought it not 
divine, any more than he would to pray fervently and 
devoutly for the dead, while he did not think purgatory a 
doctrine of the Bible. A man who did not believe in 
three orders in the ministry would weaken the Episcopacy. 
Such was one of the nominated, as may be seen by the 
memoirs of the Eev. Jesse Lee. 

" Pichard Whatcoat had thought it an honor to be or- 
dained a deacon, as St. Stephen was ; and an elder, as the 
Seventy ; and had magnified both orders, and was a warm 
advocate for the third ; esteeming it not an office taken at 
pleasure, but an order of God." f 

That this high view of the Episcopate was shared by 
Asbury, there seems to be little reason for doubt. Within 
a year after the election of "Whatcoat, in allusion to the 
Methodist Episcopacy, Asbury said : " There is not, nor, 
indeed, in my mind, can there be, a perfect equality be- 
tween a constant President, and those over whom he al- 
ways presides.";); 

In the year 1805 Asbury said : " I will tell the world 
what I rest my authority upon. 1. Divine authority. 

* " Memoirs of Whatcoat," by Phoebus, p. 84. The italics are mine. 
| " Memoirs of Whatcoat." The italics are mine. 
\ Asbury's " Journal," vol. iii, p. 19. 



98 



Centennial History of 



2. Seniority in America. 3. The election of the General 
Conference. 4. My ordination by Thomas Coke, "William 
Philip Otterbein, German Presbyterian minister, Pich- 
ard Whatcoat, and Thomas Vasey. 5. Because the signs 
of an apostle have* been seen in me." * 

It is clear, then, that Asbury attached a certain value to 
his ordination as Superintendent by Coke, and that he 
rested his authority upon that ordination as well as on his 
election by the Christmas Conference. 

This high theory of Methodist Episcopacy found ex- 
pression as late as 1827 in the " Methodist Magazine." In 
what is apparently an editorial review in that journal of 
the Pev. Freeborn Garrettson's semi-centennial sermon, 
the following words occur : " At the same time that our 
Church does not subscribe to the essentiality of this order 
of ministers [Bishops] it certainly recognizes it as superior 
to and different from the office of elder." f 

As late as July, 1871, the same theory had editorial ad- 
vocacy in the " Methodist Quarterly Peview," which said : 
" The office conferred upon Dr. Coke had all the attributes 
ascribed to an order : namely, ordination, exclusive right 
to ordain, life tenure, and successional permanence in the 
future." The Quarterly further said: "Are not our 
Bishops consecrated by the most solemn of the three ordi- 
nations ? How can there be an ordination, if not to an 
order % " 

Respecting the life tenure of Dr. Coke the Quarterly was 
mistaken. The Pev. Freeborn Garrettson says : " The fears 
arising in the minds of many of the members of this Con- 
ference [1787] lest Mr. Wesley should recall Mr. Asbury, 
was the cause of P. Whatcoat's appointment being re- 
jected.":!: Mr. Asbury, as we have seen, expressly declared 
that Wesley claimed' the right to govern the Superin-. 
tendents, to the extent of removing them from office, and 

* '-Journal," vol. iii, p. 191. f "Methodist Magazine," 1827. p. 399. 
\ Garrettson's Semi-Centennial Sermon, p. 20, 



American Methodism. 



99 



recalling them from the country, f Nothing seems to 
have been said by Mr. Wesley concerning a life tenure of 
the Superintendency. 

Notwithstanding that the theory of the Episcopacy as a 
separate and higher order had large acceptance in the 
Church, the General Conference treated the Bishops as if 
they were simply Superintendents. They were held as 
subject to suspension, or to deposition from office, at the 
will of the General Conference. This fact is shown by 
the course taken by the General Conference of 1796 and 
that of 1808 respecting Dr. Coke. 

In relation to Dr.* Coke's agreement at the General 
Conference of 1796, to devote himself exclusively to the 
w T ork of his office as Bishop, in the United States, to 
which reference has been made already, the Rev. John 
Kobler, who was a member of that body, says : 

" This unexpected offer, and to many an unwelcome 
one, opened the way to a large and spirited debate. A 
number present were warmly in favor of accepting the 
offer, and as many were against it. Mr. Lee was decidedly 
against, and he warmly opposed it. In fact, I believe he 
never liked the doctor any way, from his first entering 
among us in 1784, to the last. He could not endure the 
absolute spirit and overbearing disposition of Dr. Coke, 
as a high officer in the Church. Mr. Lee was a candid 
man, and in no wise disposed to give flattering titles to 
any, and as such he opposed the offer with great zeal and 
eloquence. He was a man of great penetration, could 
see through circumstances, and read men well. He was 
the best speaker in the Conference. He first showed 
that there were several members in our Connection who 
were well qualified to fill the office, having been long and 
well proved ; who were natives of the country, of our- 
selves, and were well acquainted with the rules by which 
our civil and religious privileges were regulated. But his 

* See page 57. 



100 



Centennial Histoky of 



most powerful argument, I well remember, was this : ' that 
the doctor was a thorough-bred Englishman, and an 
entire stranger abroad in the country ; (out of the Church ;) 
that the deep-rooted prejudices against British oppression, 
which by our arduous Revolutionary struggle we had so 
recently thrown off, still hung heavily, and was operating 
powerfully upon the public mind ; and that to select a 
high officer to govern our Church from that distant nation, 
whose spirit and practice were held in abhorrence by the 
American people, would in his judgment be a very impol- 
itic step, and would tend to raise the suspicions and preju- 
dices of the public against us as a Church. He further 
said, he had frequently heard the same objections made 
against us as an American Church for having a native of 
England (Bishop Asbury) at our head ; and now to add 
another, who, in many respects, had not the experience, 
prudence, nor skill in government that Bishop Asbury 
had, would operate very materially against the best inter- 
est of the Church.' 

" The debate lasted two days, and was incessant ; and 
during the time the doctor was secluded from the Con- 
ference room. Mr. Lee and his party evidently had the 
better of the cause in debate, and was gaining confidence 
continually. In one of his speeches, Mr. Lee said he was 
' confident the doctor would not fill the high office, and 
perform the vast amount of labor attached to it ; that 
England was his home, his friends and best interests were 
there, and without doubt he would spend most of his time 
in going to and fro between England and America, and 
leave the Episcopacy and the Connection as void of help 
as they were before.' "When Bishop Asbury saw how the 
matter was likely to go, he rose from the chair, and with 
much apparent feeling said : ' If we reject him, it will be 
his ruin ; for the British Conference will certainly know of 
it, and it will sink him vastly in their estimation.' Here 
the debate ended. I well remember, during the debate, the 



American Methodism. 



101 



doctor came into Conference and made a speech. Among 
other things he said, he 'never was cast upon such a sea 
of uncertainty before.' This, I expect, made Bishop 
Asbury say, ' If we reject him, it will be his ruin.'' The 
discussion was now stopped, and the whole matter sub- 
mitted (though by many with reluctance) to Bishop 
Asbury's judgment — for they had, previously to the doc- 
tor's offer, urged him to make his own selection.* I have 
often wondered at Bishop Asbury's implicit confidence in 
Dr. Coke. Whether he felt himself bound, in conscience, 
to submit to one who ordained him to the office of Super- 
intendent, or whether it was because he was Mr. Wesley's 
representative, I am at a loss to say. But the doctor's 
conduct, in a short time, fully proved that Mr. Lee's 
opinions of his course were founded in a wise discrimi- 
nation of character — for in a few months lie went to 
England, and never appeared among us till four years 
afterward ! " f 

The Kev. William Colbert was a member of the Gen- 
eral Conference of 1796. He made a brief record in his 
Journal of the action of the Conference respecting Dr. 
Coke. From Mr. Colbert's language it would seem that 
the question whether Coke's offer should be accepted was 
determined by vote. Mr. Colbert's statement is of the 
date of Friday, October 28, and is as follows : " Yester- 
day there was much talk about another Bishop, and in the 
afternoon Dr. Coke made an offer of himself. It was not 
determined whether they would receive him. But to-day 
I suppose there were not a dozen out of a hundred that 
rejected him by their votes. This gave me satisfaction." $ 

Thus it is clear that the General Conference of 1796 
believed that Bishop Coke was, as a Bishop, subject to 

* The General Conference of 1196 proposed to give Bishop Asbury the 
man whom he would name as his associate in the Superintendency. 

f Letter of the Rev. John Kobler to the Rev. Dr. LeRoy M. Lee. "Life 
and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee." 

\ Journal of the Rev. William Colbert in manuscript. 



102 



Centennial History of 



such disposition as it should determine to make of him ; 
and apparently Asbury felt that it was necessary to inter- 
pose with his influence, as the father of the Connection, 
in behalf of his colleague. 

Dr. Coke, previous to the General Conference of 1808, he 
being at the time in Europe, published a circular letter, in 
which he gave certain conditions upon which he would con- 
sent to return permanently to the United States. His corre- 
spondence with Bishop White had, meanwhile, been pub- 
lished, and had given considerable offense.* Coke wrote a 
letter to the General Conference, giving an explanation of 
that correspondence, and also restating, in a modified form, 
the conditions upon which he would be willing to return, 
finally, to this country. He then says : " If this cannot be 
done by the authority of the General Conference, you may 
insert me in your Minutes as formerly ; or you may insert 
the resident Bishop or Bishops, and add a In . B. : Dr. Coke 
(or Bishop Coke, as you please) resides in Europe, till he be 
called to the States by the General Conference, or by the 
Annual Conferences ; or if this be not agreeable, you must 
expel me, (for dropping me out of your public Minutes 
will be, to all intents and purposes, an expulsion,) and leave 
what I have done for your Connection to God alone ; and 
though you forget me, God will not forget me." 

In regard to this subject, the Conference gave its deliver- 
ance as follows : " Resolved, That Dr. Coke's name shall be 
retained in our Minutes after the names of our Bishops 
in a E". B. Dr. Coke, at the request of the British Con- 
ference, and by consent of our General Conference, resides 
in Europe. He is not to exercise the office of Superin- 
tendent among us, in the United States, until he be re- 
called by the General Conference, or by all the Annual 
Conferences respectively." 

With respect to this case, a high authority in American 
Methodism has said : " It is manifest that the General Con- 

* Concerning Coke's letter to Bishop White, see p. 348 of this volume. 



American Methodism. 



103 



ference of 1808 had no doubt as to its right to suspend 
Dr. Coke, one of its Bishops, during its pleasure ; for 
the resolution does not only forbid him to exercise the 
functions of a Superintendent over the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church while he continued to reside in Europe, but 
until recalled. He might have come to America at any 
time ; but he could not reinstate himself in the Episcopate, 
without he should be again called to it, either by vote of 
the General Conference, or by all the Annual Conferences. 
ISTor did the Conference proceed by impeachment, or upon 
any specific charge of immorality, or violation of disciplin- 
ary rule. The action of the body was simply prudential. 
The interests of the Church, under all the circumstances, 
required a suspension of Dr. Coke's authority, as one of 
the Bishops, and the Conference suspended him ; and that, 
too, until a contingency occurred which might never hap- 
pen, and which, in fact, never did happen ; for he never 
was recalled. The action of the Conference was, to all 
intents and purposes, a deposition of the Bishop, though 
it was so expressed as to give him as little oUense as 
possible. 

" A remarkable circumstance in this affair is, that Dr. 
Coke himself, so far from questioning the right of the 
General Conference to dispose of him as it pleased, clearly 
and explicitly admits the right ; for all his propositions 
are founded upon this admission. 

" Thus it will be seen, that the Discipline of the Church, 
as explained by all commentators throughout our whole 
history, and as acted upon by the General Conference, 
where such action was called for, established the right of 
the General Conference to depose or suspend a General 
Superintendent, for any cause which that body may 
believe renders that deposition or suspension necessary, 
without the process of trial or impeachment."* 

* " Christian Advocate and Journal," T. E. Bond and G-. Coles, Editors. 
Editorial article, August 1-4, 1814. 



104 



Centennial History of 



This power was asserted by the General Conference of 
1844 in the case of Bishop Andrew, who, by his marriage, 
had become a slave-holder. A majority of the General 
Conference believed that that fact incapacitated him for 
the successful discharge of the functions of his office. The 
following resolution respecting Bishop Andrew was, there- 
fore, passed by that body : 

"Resolved, That it is the sense of this General Confer- 
ence that he desist from the exercise of this office so long 
as this impediment remains." 

Of this action the biographer of Bishop Andrew 
affirms : " Since he could not conscientiously remove 
the impediments, it amounted to permanent depo- 
sition." * 

The first Bishops, Coke and Asbury, in their Xotes on 
the Discipline, acknowledged their subjection to the Gen- 
eral Conference. They said : " The American Bishops are 
as responsible as any of the preachers. They are perfectly 
subject to the General Conference." Again they said: 
"They [the Bishops] are perfectly dependent. Their 
power, their usefulness, themselves, are entirely at the 
mercy of the General Conference." 

Whatever theories of a third order may have .been 
entertained in the Church, the General Conference has, we 
repeat, governed the incumbents of the Episcopate as if it 
were simply an office. It has treated the Bishops as its 
agents, or embassadors, even as Wesley treated the Superin- 
tendents he appointed. Coke and Asbury. It has always held 
them subordinate to its will. At a very early period of the 
Church the Rev. John Dickins said : " Mr. Asbury was 
chosen by the Conference, both before and after he was or- 
dained a Bishop ; and he is still considered as the person 
of its choice by being responsible to the Conference, which 
has power to remove him and fill his place with another, 

* " The Life and Letters of James Osgood Andrew." By the Rev. George 
G. Smith, A.M. Nashville, 1883. 



American Methodism. 



105 



if it sees necessary. And as lie is liable every year to be 
removed, lie may be considered as their annual choice." * 
It has even been maintained, that for an abuse of the 
appointing power, a Bishop may be deposed by the General 
Conference. 

The power to appoint the preachers to their fields of 
labor is the most delicate and sacred of all the powers 
which the General Conference wields. It executes that 
power through deputies, or embassadors, whom it calls 
Bishops. It cannot but hold the Bishops, therefore, to a 
strict responsibility for the manner in which they admin- 
ister that high authority which it confides to them. Should 
an officer to whom the power of appointing the ministers 
has been intrusted, by the General Conference, become 
careless, reckless, or oppressive in its exercise, it would 
clearly be necessary for the General Conference to div r est 
him of that power. Should it fail to do so, it would 
prove an unfaithful guardian of the most sacred interests 
and rights of the Church and of the ministry. An incom- 
petent or an untrustworthy Bishop might do immeasur- 
able injury to the cause he is designed to conserve. From 
such injury the General Conference is solemnly bound to 
protect the Church. 

The eminent authority, from whose editorial we have 
quoted already, in the same sagacious article, says : " Suppose 
a Bishop, in the legitimate exercise of his prerogative, to ap- 
point a preacher in the Georgia Conference to a circuit in 
Wisconsin. There is no general rule why a preacher in 
Georgia should not be sent to Wisconsin ; but in the case sup- 
posed there is a special objection. The preacher lacks the 
pecuniary means to transport himself and family to the 
field of labor assigned him. He remonstrates, and states 
his inability to comply with the order ; but the Bishop is 
inexorable, and refuses to revoke it. The preacher does 
not go to Wisconsin — it is impracticable ; but he remains 

* Quoted by Emory in "Defense of our Fathers," p. 65. 

5* 



106 . Centennial History of 



without a circuit or station for a whole year, and, conse- 
quently, without any claim upon the Discipline for sup- 
port. He is, therefore, compelled to go in debt for food, 
raiment, and shelter, both for himself and those that are 
dependent upon him. 

" At the ensuing General Conference, the injured 
preacher lays his complaint before the Committee on the 
Episcopacy, and a charge is preferred against a Bishop for 
oppressing a brother. Could the charge be sustained? 
Would not the Bishop plead his legal right to make the 
appointment, and the entire absence of any rule of Disci- 
pline which recjuired him to adjust his appointments to the 
convenience of the preachers ? Might he not plead that 
the whole system of Methodism required personal sacri- 
fices ; and, in his judgment, the interests of the circuit in 
Wisconsin would have been greatly promoted by the serv- 
ices of the complainant ? Could the General Conference 
convict a Bishop of either immorality or a breach of 
Discipline in the premises? And if not, where is the 
remedy for this evil ? The answer is, that upon a state- 
ment of the facts in the case, by the Committee on the 
Episcopacy, the General Conference would decide whether 
or not the act of the Bishop was improper ; and, if im- 
proper, whether his removal from office was necessary. 
Without this direct responsibility to the Conference, 
and subjection to deposition by vote of the body for 
improper conduct, if thought necessary, there could be 
no security against the most cruel oppression of the 
traveling preachers by a Bishop ; and that strictly accord- 
ing to law." * 

This view of the subjection of the Bishops to the Gen- 
eral Conference really places the Snperin tendency where 
Wesley put it. It is not a prelatical order, but a simple 
agency or embassy employed for the purpose of executing 

* Editorial article in the "Christian Advocate and Journal," August 
14, 1844, from the pen, it is presumed, of the Editor-in-chief, Dr. Bond. 



American Methodism. 



107 



the will of the body from which it bears authority, and to 
which it is always and directly responsible. 

After a century, in which the question of the precise eccle- 
siastical status of the Methodist Superin tendency has been 
the target of many controversial arrows, the first Centen- 
nial of the Church was signalized by an action of the 
General Conference of 1884, declaring that the Enisco- 
pate is not an order, but an office, in the words following, 
to wit : 

" Resolved, That we reaffirm the doctrine of the fathers 
of our Church, that the Bishopric is not an order, but an 
office ; and that in orders a Bishop is merely an Elder or 
Presbyter." 

This resolution was written and moved by the Hev. Dr. 
T. B. Neely, of the Philadelphia Conference, who also sup- 
ported it in an elaborate speech. There was a motion to 
refer it to the Committee on the Episcopacy, which did 
not prevail. The resolution, after being fully discussed, 
without any member disputing the truth of its declara- 
tion, was adopted by a very large majority. Subse- 
quently, the Rev. Dr. Daniel Curry, of the New York 
East Conference, moved the adoption of a rubric on the 
same subject, for insertion in the Discipline. Dr. Xeely 
made the main speech in support of Dr. Curry's motion, 
and it prevailed by an almost unanimous vote. This last 
action embraced the following: 

u Resohe J) That these words be inserted as a rubric at the 
beginning of the ritual for the consecration of Bishops: 

" [This seiwice is not to be understood as an ordination 
to a higher Order in the Christian Ministry, beyond and 
above that of Elders or Presbyters, but as a solemn and 
fitting Consecration for the special and most sacred duties 
of Superintendcncy in the Church.] " 

Thus by the latest and decisive utterance of the Church, 
the Methodist Superintendency is stripped of all the pre- 
latical ideas and theories with which it has been confused 



108 



Centennial History of 



since its title was changed in 1787 ; and the Episcopate 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church is declared, in effect, 
to be nothing more than the simple Superintendence 
which was originally received and accepted from John 
Wesley at the Christmas Conference, in the closing days 
of 1781. In Methodist phraseology, the word " Super- 
intendent" means Bishop, and the word "Bishop" means 
Superintendent. These two are one. In common eccle- 
siastical language the word "Bishop," of course, signifies one 
who is invested with an order superior to that of Pres- 
byter. This meaning of the word the Methodist Episcopal 
Church does not accept, but rejects. Its Bishops are 
Presbyterial Superintendents; "only that, and nothing 
more." 



American Methodism. 



109 



CHAPTER V. 

ADVANCE OF THE NEW CHURCH FROM BALTIMORE. 

ITH the beginning of the year 1785, the Methodist 
Episcopal Church began its great career of labor and 
achievement. Having about eighty ministers and scarcely 
fifteen thousand members, it entered with high ardor and 
hope upon the work of spreading scriptural holiness over 
this great land. Greatly gratified that they were now a 
Church, the American Methodists, both of the laity and 
of the ministry, pursued their high calling in Christ Jesus 
with a sense of freedom from embarrassment which they 
had not previously known. 

The itinerancy was now fully organized. Asbury, the 
most redoubtable warrior of the Cross that ever led the 
hosts of God in America, was a perpetual inspiration to 
his preachers. His absolute devotion to his Master's work ; 
his prudence, wisdom, and skill in leadership ; his zeal 
and ability in the pulpit ; his vigilant and energetic super- 
vision of all the interests of his great charge, rendered 
him an example and a living benediction to the young 
Church. 

The new Church also enjoyed an unexampled opportu- 
nity. Before it was a vast country that had escaped from 
the old political bonds, and from the sway of a foreign 
scepter. The Revolution had swept away the English 
State Church. Other denominations had not yet entered 
the field south of Pennsylvania to any considerable extent, 
and the great West was yet almost in its virgin solitude. 
The war, besides securing a new government for America, 
opened a highway for Methodism. Dromgoole wrote 
from Virginia to "Wesley seven months before the Christmas 




110 



Centennial History of 



Conference, " There is now a great and effectual door 
opened, and a blessed prospect of great good being done." 
Such was the revulsion which the war gave to the English 
Church that Bishop White, in his Half- Century Address, 
said that in all the State of Pennsylvania there was at one 
time no rector of the Church of England but himself. 

American Methodism, by its organization, was sepa- 
rated from the Church of England, and yet escaped com- 
petition with it. Instead of having to struggle against the 
powerful influence of the mother Church, the Methodists 
found the field almost vacant and inviting their occupancy. 
" The Methodist Episcopal Church never had to contend 
with the Protestant Episcopal Church, as with an older 
rival who had previous possession. She was not like an 
infant struggling with a Hercules. She had the wide 
country before her where to choose, and Providence her 
guide." Whitefield, by his great zeal and eloquence, had 
stirred the country, but he confined his labors to the pop- 
ulous territory, and gave little attention to the new rural 
regions. 

The young Church, with its itinerant ministry, was not 
slow to take advantage of its great opportunity. Asbury 
led his itinerants over mountains, across rivers, and through 
the valleys of the new S rates. Had the great advantages 
which he and his preachers possessed for extending the 
Church been unimproved, the loss would have been irre- 
trievable. " The neglected ground would have been occu- 
pied by others. Excepting a part of the Middle and 
Eastern States, Methodism takes rank with other denomi- 
nations in the order of time." The advantages, instead of 
being wasted, were marvelously improved. On the open- 
ing of the year 1785, the Methodist Episcopal Church 
went forth from Baltimore to the conquest of the conti- 
nent. 

At once the cause felt a new impulse. At Baltimore, 
and in the country around it, the work of G od revived. The 



American Methodism. 



Ill 



quarterly meetings, at which the sacraments were admin- 
istered, became occasions of great interest and usefulness. 
The people attended them in multitudes, and felt the 
solemnity of a Divine Presence. Dr. Coke visited the 
peninsula, and the entire region was moved. " Thousands," 
says Ware,' " pressed to him to have their children dedi- 
cated to the Lord in baptism, and to receive themselves the 
holy supper at his hands. Daily accessions were made to 
the Church." 

After the Conference adjourned, Asbury began prepara- 
tion for a journey southward. On the sixth of January he 
was in Yirginia, on his way to Charleston. In February 
he was in the metropolis of the South, having with him 
two of his most talented preachers, Henry Willis and Jesse 
Lee. On the twenty-seventh day of that month Lee 
preached to a very small congregation. Willis followed 
in the afternoon with a sermon, and Lee preached again at 
night. This was the formal beginning of Methodism in 
Charleston. 

While in the city, Asbury and his companions were the 
guests of a merchant named Edgar Wells. He was a well- 
disposed man of the world. Though not without serious 
reflections, he was a lover of pleasure more than of God. 
Asbury was instant in season, out of season, and wherever 
he was he sought to save souls. He became greatly anx- 
ious for the salvation of his gentlemanly host. On the 
first evening that they were entertained at his house, the 
preachers proposed prayers while Wells was preparing to 
go to a scene of gayety. "Prayers in my house," he 
thought. " If I attend I must disappoint myself and 
others of the pleasures of the evening; for I cannot go to 
a dance after prayer." * 

The merchant observed the deportment of his visitors, 
and was favorably and strongly impressed by their ex- 
ample and counsel. As they sat at dinner one day, Mr. 

* " The Methodist Magazine." 1197. Philadelphia. 



112 



Centennial History of 



Asbury said to Willis : " We may as well leave Charleston, 
for I don't know whether there are any in the city that 
love or fear God." The remark struck Mr. Wells. After 
some further conversation the ministers retired to their 
room, and their host remained to ponder their words. He 
then and there determined to seek God. He thought, 
" Surely this is the time ; if I neglect this opportunity I 
may never have another." He made known to the preach- 
ers his state of mind. They prayed with him. Asbury 
writes : " This afternoon Mr. W ells began to feel convic- 
tion. My soul praised the Lord for this fruit of our labors — 
this answer to our prayers." The next day was Sunday. 
The seeker and his spiritual instructors were increasingly 
in earnest for his salvation. Asbury on that day exclaimed : 
" My soul is in deep travail for Mr. Wells." In the even- 
ing of the fifth day of his seeking, as he lay upon his bed, 
" engaged in mighty prayer, he found an inward power 
infused into his soul through which he was enabled to 
believe with the heart in the Lord Jesus Christ." Mr. 
Wells now rejoiced " with joy unspeakable and full of 
glory." Asbury, in recording the fact of his conversion, 
says : "Now we know that God hath brought us here, and 
have a hope that there will be a glorious work among the 
people." 

Mr. Wells became a devoted and useful member of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, which was soon or- 
ganized in Charleston, and he gave liberally to its funds. 
For almost twelve years he enjoyed and exemplified 
the faith that overcometh, exhibiting a character of rare 
loveliness. He was an earnest worker in the vineyard. 
In death he was victorious. He said : " As to the fear 
of death, I feel none ; and as to eternity, I have with as 
much pleasure longed for my dissolution as ever I longed 
for my marriage day." His stricken widow wrote : " I 
asked him, ' Do you know who is with you ? 5 He an- 
swered with a smile, 6 Yes, my dear, I know God is with 



American Methodism. 



113 



me, and you are with me.' His heart and tongue seemed 
so engaged as I had never seen or heard before. It was 
the language of Canaan, and his happy spirit had already 
joined in converse with the celestial company." Thus 
triumphed over the last foe Edgar Wells, one of the ear- 
liest trophies of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He died 
in Charleston, January 16, 1797. It is said of him that he 
was " ever ready for all the duties of piety," and that in 
his domestic relations he had few equals. Such was the 
work which the newly consecrated Superintendent, As- 
bury, and his itinerant band went forth to do after the 
Christmas Conference. 

After spending about a fortnight in Charleston, Asbury 
departed from the city, leaving as the fruit of his visit one 
important convert, and others "under gracious impres- 
sions." He appointed Willis to remain in the field and 
gather the sheaves. 

Difficulties were to be overcome, Asbury and his com- 
panions had been permitted to occupy an unused Baptist 
church in Charleston. Soon it was closed against the new 
denomination. In June, 17S5, Beverly Allen, then one of 
the most commanding preachers of Methodism, entered 
Charleston. " The field," he says, " seemed white unto 
the harvest. Both in the city and country the people were 
ready to hear the word." He joined AYillis in his labors, 
and also preached in the regions around. " But the dev- 
il," says he, u could not bear to see his prey taken from 
him, for in a very short time lie stirred up the wicked 
to spread all manner of falsehood abroad ; and in some 
measure gained his point. The people became almost 
afraid to hear us, lest they should be infected with Meth- 
odism, which they deemed as dangerous as the plague." * 

Excluded from the Baptist meeting-house, a Lydia, one 
Mrs. Stoll, received the Methodists into her house, where 

* Allen's account of the " Work of God in America.'' 11 Arminian Maga- 
zine," 1792, p. 350. 



114 



Centennial History of 



they worshiped. The increased attendance soon made it 
necessary to rind a larger place. A new, but unfinished, 
house was offered them by a friend, which they accepted.* 
While they were worshiping in this house a very striking 
conversion occurred. A man named George Airs, of con- 
firmed habits of sin and of impulsive temperament, was 
awakened. For some days he was in distress for his sins. 
When he found deliverance he declared to those present 
that he was saved, and then bounded forth in rapture. 
He ran in the street, shouting halleluiah as he went. A 
crowd followed him, supposing he was insane. After 
running around several squares of the city, he returned to 
his home with tears streaming from his eyes. His subse- 
quent life proved that he was not the victim of a wild de- 
lusion, f Such was the progress of the work, that when 
Asbury visited Charleston, in January, 1786, he found large 
congregations, and the people "encouraged to undertake 
the building of a meeting-house." When, on the first of 
March, 1787, Dr. Coke reached Charleston, he found a 
church which he opened for worship. " From that time," 
he says, "my congregations were very large. At five in 
the morning about three hundred used to attend." Asbury 
reached the city a fortnight or more later, and found " a 
spacious house," and " crowded and solemn " congregations. 

The new church stood on Cumberland Street, and is 
yet memorable for the spiritual victories that honored 
it. Its erection was a triumph. " As there are no more 
than forty whites here in society," writes Coke, "the 
building of a church worth £1,000 sterling has filled the 
people with amazement." At this time the Conference 
assembled there. The preachers gathered together from 
South Carolina and Georgia, and reported the progress 
of the cause. " Great has been the work of God," says 
Coke, " both in this State and that of Georgia, for the little 

*The Rev. James 0. Andrew, " Methodist Quarterly Review," 1830, p. 18. 
f Mood's " Methodism in Charleston." 



Ameeicah METHODISM. 



115 



time that we have labored in them." Thus, in two years 
from the entrance of Asbury and his two itinerants into 
the Southern metropolis, the young Church was not only 
securely established within it, but also extended over a 
large contiguous territory. 

Henry "Willis, whose work in Charleston, in 1785, is in- 
vested with so much interest and historical importance, 
was one of the most eminent ministers of early Methodism 
in America. A native of Brunswick County, Yirginia, he 
entered the itinerancy during the Revolution. From the 
year 1779 to 1790 he rendered invaluable service. After 
that time he suffered from impaired health. He had an 
open, pleasant, smiling countenance, and possessed ex- 
traordinary gifts. " Henry Willis stood pre-eminent," says 
Thomas Ware. " Henry Willis was a light in the Church 
for many years," said Freeborn Garrettson. A Continent- 
al officer, Jacob Barr, who had little sympathy with relig- 
ion, was led, by curiosity, to hear Willis preach in South 
Carolina. The sermon resulted in the thorough awaken- 
ing and conversion of the soldier, and he became a very 
successful local preacher.* Willis was one of the early 
heroes, abounding in toil, fortitude, and achievement. 
His labors extended to Tennessee, to Charleston, and to 
New York. Coke, who witnessed his labors and knew his 
worth, said of him that he was " indeed an honor to the 
Gospel of our Lord and Saviour ; " and, visiting his grave, 
Asbury exclaimed, ''Henry Willis! Ah, when shall I 
look upon thy like again ! " He died in triumphant faith 
at Pipe Creek, Md., in 1S08. 

The work was extended in Yirginia, in 17S5, by the for- 
mation of a new circuit, called Lancaster, which comprised 
the northern neck. About the whole State was now in- 
cluded in Methodist circuits. As Dr. Coke was traveling 
in this region this year, he illustrated how the early Meth- 
odist preachers reaped by sowing beside all waters. He 

* Shipp's " History of Methodism in South Carolina. 1 ' 



116 



Centennial Histoey of 



called at a house whose inmates were not acquainted with 
Methodism. Before leaving he presented the family with 
an extract of Law's " Treatise on the Nature and Design 
of Christianity." Six years afterward he met a preacher 
named Cowles, who, he says, "is a flame of fire,'' and who 
was a member of the family that received the tract. " By 
the means of that tract," writes Coke, " they were so stirred 
up to seek the Lord, that now the mother, the preacher, six 
children who are married, and their husbands and wives, 
fourteen in all, are converted, and have joined our society." 
By such facts the Methodists learned the value of the press 
as an auxiliary of the pulpit, and they skillfully employed 
it. The printed page was a silent helper of the traveling 
preacher, and preached when he was gone, with an effective- 
ness that told upon the destinies of the rising Church. 

In this year, 1785, Beverly Allen formed the Great Pee 
Dee Circuit, in the State of North Carolina, " where," he 
says, "many hundreds flocked to hear the word of the 
Lord, and many were truly awakened." 

In the autumn Allen preached at the house of a Colonel 
Jackson, in North Carolina. Many of his hearers were 
moved, and, in particular, two of the daughters of his host 
and their aunt, who was the wife of a judge of the Supreme 
Court. In the night their cries of anguish banished slum- 
ber. "We arose," says Allen, "and continued in prayer 
and exhortation till near two o'clock, when God heard our 
petitions and sent the Comforter." 

During his progress in North Carolina, Allen " had 
crowded assemblies, and many were deeply wrought 
upon." At Governor Caseweil's request, he preached at 
Newbern, before the Governor and Council and the Gen- 
eral Assembly. " The church," he says, " was crowded, 
the people very attentive, and many were greatly affected." 
One of the lawyers said that it would not answer for him 
to hear Allen, " for he was so strongly wrought upon there- 
by that he could not forbear weeping." 



American Methodism. 



117 



Thus did the Methodist Episcopal Church immediately 
after its organization spread in the South. All the events, 
however, of the year 1785, are not as pleasing to contemplate 
as those we have reviewed. The Christmas Conference 
adopted a rule requiring members of the Church to set their 
bondmen free, and forbidding the admission of slave-holders 
into the Church and to the Lord's Supper, except they 
emancipated their slaves. Coke proposed to maintain the 
deliverance of the Church on slavery. Accordingly, while 
preaching in a barn in Virginia, he denounced human 
bondage. His words roused to wrath the defenders of 
the traffic in men. They withdrew from the audience and 
decided to punish the preacher. A woman became so en- 
raged that she offered the mob £50 if they would give 
"that little doctor" a hundred lashes. He was sur- 
rounded as he passed from the building, but escaped 
injury. 

He preached in the same neighborhood the following 
day. A large number of men gathered with clubs and 
staves. In another place he was indicted by the grand 
jury, and not less than ninety persons agreed to pursue 
him, and bring him, as a culprit, to punishment. He 
reached North Carolina, and, with Asbury, met the Con- 
ference on the twentieth of April, 1785, at the house of 
Green Hill. Here the new rule on slavery was given 
prominence. Jesse Lee was present, and dissented from the 
views of Coke respecting it. Coke thought Lee unsound 
in his opinions of the great evil, and, therefore, arrested 
his character in the Conference. Lee promptly replied, 
and was interrupted by Coke. Subsequently Coke made a 
satisfactory apology to Lee, whose feelings he had wounded. 
The work was found to be very prosperous in that region, 
and an increase of almost a thousand crowned the year. 

At the Conference in Virginia, a few days later, the 
agitation on slavery was also visible. Many leading laymen 
were present to urge the suspension of the rule. " But 



118 



Centennial History of 



when they found," says Coke, " that we had thought of 
withdrawing ourselves entirely from the circuit on account 
of the violent spirit of some leading men, they drew in 
their horns, and sent us a very humble letter, entreating 
that preachers might be appointed to their circuit." 

Well would it have been for Christianity and liberty 
throughout the world, and especially in the United States, 
had the young Church unflinchingly maintained its 
attitude toward • slavery. The country was new, the 
nation was in its infancy, and the system of bondage 
had not grown to masterful proportions. Methodist slave- 
holders were considering emancipation, and a number 
gave freedom to their slaves. A Church of Jesus Christ, 
free from complication with it, would have stood as an 
effective witness against slavery in the Southern States. 
The Church should not have made concessions to an insti- 
tution which it believed was hostile to righteousness, how- 
ever enthroned by law. It was not the office of the 
Church to yield to the clamor of slave-holders, and lower 
its banner to conciliate them ; rather it should have been 
unswervingly bold and faithful in maintaining its standard 
of Christian ethics, though persecuted to the death. Thus 
it would have led public opinion, and arrayed the con- 
science of the nation and of the South itself against the 
great crime. At its organization, the Church was planted 
on the eternal rock of righteousness. Only a few months 
elapsed, however, before the violent opposition of the 
slave-holders effected its purpose, and a humiliating reces- 
sion was announced in the Minutes in these words : " It is 
recommended to all our brethren to suspend the execution 
of the minute on slavery till the deliberations of a future 
Conference." 

Coke, however, retained his zeal for liberty. He saw, 
as with prophetic eye, the doom of slavery and the relation 
of Methodism to its overthrow. He said, April 23, 1795, 
in a letter to the Kev. Daniel Hitt : " My dear brother, 



American Methodism. 



119 



have great compassion on the poor negroes, and do all you 
can for their conversion, If they have religious liberty 
their temporal slavery will comparatively be but a small 
thing. But even with respect to this latter point I do 
long for the time when the Lord will turn their captivity 
like the streams of the south ; and he will appear for 
them. He is winding up the sacred hall / he is sweeping 
off the wicked ; and will never withdraw his hand till civil 
and religious liberty be established all over the earth. I 
have no doubt that if the body of Methodist preachers 
keep close to God, they will be the chief instruments of 
bringing about this most desirable state of things. Let us 
be a praying, preaching, self-denying set of men, and we 
shall carry the world before us." 

Turning from the South, northward we see the cause 
progressing. In February, 1785, Coke found the Church 
in Philadelphia advancing; St. George's was to be finished, 
for, says Coke, " They are now going to plaster our church 
here ; the scaffolding is already put up." Better than all, 
the spiritual temple was rising. Coke writes, " There is cer- 
tainly a considerable revival in this city."" In "Wilming- 
ton, Delaware, he found a revival also ; and when he reached 
Baltimore, he wrote, " There is certainly a considerable re- 
vival here." He also reports a subscription of £500 ster- 
ling toward the erection of another church in that city. 

In J^ew Jersey important trophies were won. This 
year, 1785, John Haggerty entered Elizabeth, and was en- 
tertained by a Mr. Morrell. Morrell also allowed Haggerty 
to preach in his house, and his son Thomas, a merchant in 
middle life, heard the sermon. It was the first sermon 
from a Methodist preacher the younger Morrell ever 
heard. Haggerty 's text on that occasion was one that has 
done great service in Methodism, namely, " God so loved the 
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever 
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting 

* Journal in " Arminian (American) Magazine." 



120 



Centennial History of 



life." Thomas Morrell had been a Revolutionary officer, 
and that sermon led him to enlist in the ranks of the Cap- 
tain of Salvation. Soon after his conversion, Haggerty led 
him forth to preach. He abandoned a lucrative business 
and joined the itinerancy. He became a leader in Meth- 
odism and a trusted friend of Asbury. The latter desired 
him to go to Charleston in 1791, which he did, and for 
some months he served the Church there when it was con- 
vulsed by secession under Hammett. For about seven years 
in all, Morrell was stationed in the city of JSew York. He 
was also stationed in Philadelphia and in Baltimore. Failing 
health compelled him to retire from the regular ministry 
in 1804, though for years afterward he abounded in labors 
for the Church. 

Mr. Morrell was under medium height, with a square, 
well-knit frame, " a dark piercing eye," and a countenance 
which revealed decision and great kindness of heart. His 
voice was clear and strong, and under complete control. 
"His appearance in the pulpit was grave and dignified. 
His sermons were characterized by strong sense and sound 
theology. jSTot infrequently his preaching was attended 
with an unction " that melted both himself and his audi- 
ence.* "He was the friend of the indigent, his house 
the home of the itinerant, and his attachment to the 
Church of his choice strengthened" with his years. When 
dying, at the age of ninety, he said to his wife, " Why do 
you weep ? I am going to glory." " The Christian's Home " 
was sung at his bedside. He tried to join in the song, and 
said, " I shall soon be there." A few minutes before life 
ceased he exclaimed, " All is well."t His death occurred 
August 9, 1838. 

In the autumn of 17S6 Eobert Cloud went to Staten 
Island, and a great revival followed his labors. He 
was joined in the work a little later by Thomas Morrell, 

* J olm Lee to the author. 

f Letter of his son, the Rev. Francis Asbury MorreD, to the author. 



American Methodism. 



121 



who was induced to go to his help. While prosecuting his 
ministry on the Island, Cloud was challenged by a Bap- 
tist clergyman to discuss publicly the points of difference 
between the Methodist doctrines and Calvinism. He ac- 
cepted the challenge. Mr. Morrell and a Baptist minister 
were chosen to preside at the debate. On the day that 
the discussion took place, the Baptist expressed confidence 
that he would easily overthrow his opponent. But Cloud 
was not only wise to win souls, he was also a skillful polemic. 
The debate called out a multitude. Cloud opened the dis- 
cussion and gave a convincingly clear exposition of Meth- 
odist theology, and also exposed the exceptionable points of 
Calvinism, so that his adversary was well-nigh confounded. 
In his reply the Baptist minister occupied only about half 
the allotted time. Cloud then made another brief address, 
and remarking that his arguments were unref uted, and that 
his opponent had said but little that called for a rejoinder, 
he resumed his seat. The Baptist made no further attempt 
to speak. Morrell then arose and said : "As the discussion 
appears to be closed, I put it to the audience whether Mr. 
Cloud or his opponent has triumphed." By an almost 
unanimous expression by rising the audience pronounced 
in favor of Mr. Cloud. Methodism, then a feeble plant in 
Stat en Island, " began to take root. The people nocked 
to hear the 'circuit preachers,' received the truth gladly, 
and the word of God grew and multiplied." * 

Doctrinal controversy was rife in those days. The tenets 
of Calvin were stoutly maintained by learned adherents. 
The heralds of free grace were confronted by the advo- 
cates of the " decrees," and not always did the Methodist 
theology receive gentle treatment at their hands. Amer- 
ican Methodism then had no journals to exhibit and de- 
fend its theological symbols, and therefore an important 
part of the work of the itinerant preachers was to expose 
doctrinal error, and to illustrate and defend the doctrines of 

* Letter of the Rev. F. A. Morrell to the author. 

6 



122 



Centennial History of 



their Church. By debate, and bj controversial preaching, 
they enlightened the people on vital theological questions, 
and frequently overwhelmed their adversaries. They cul- 
tivated the polemic art, and their skill in it was demon- 
strated by the rapid spread of the doctrines of Methodism. 
Asbury possessed controversial zeal, and while of a very 
catholic spirit, he raised his voice against what he believed 
to be injurious error. Writing to "Wesley from New Jer- 
sey, he says, " We are much beset by a mixed people, warm 
for their own peculiarities in doctrines and forms. I could 
not have thought that reformed Churches had so much pol- 
icy and stubborn prejudices. X o means are left untried to 
prevent us, but we know and feel that God is with us." 
" I see clearly," continues Asbury, u that the Calvinists, 
on the one hand, and the Universalists, on the other, very 
much retard the work of Cod, especially in Pennsylvania 
and the J ersevs, for they both appear to keep the people 
from seeking heart religion. Maryland does not abound 
with Calvinism, but in Virginia, ISForth and South Carolina, 
and Georgia, the Baptists labor to stand by what they think 
is the good old cause." He advised Wesley to employ the 
Magazine, which he controlled, in this polemic warfare. " I 
think," he says, "that you ought always to keep the front 
of the ' Arminian Magazine ' filled with the best pieces 
you can get, both ancient and modern, against Calvinism."* 
The young Church, with Asbury at its head, went 
forth from its Christmas birth and baptism to save the 
people, not only by summoning them to repentance, but 
also by removing as much as possible the hinderances to 
their salvation which arose from erroneous beliefs. It 
not only turned men from the error of their ways, it also 
turned them from errors of opinion. It not only led them 
to the Cross, it also led them to embrace a simple, rational, 
healthful theology. It contended earnestly, and at the 

* Asbury's Letter, September, 20, 1783, "Arminian Magazine," 179], pp. 
385. 3S6. 



Amekican Methodism. 



123 



same time with marvelous skill and success for the evan- 
gelical doctrines — " the faith once delivered to the saints." 

In that controversial period the theological deliverance 
of the Christmas Conference did not, of course, escape 
rigid scrutiny. It avoided largely the speculative and dis- 
puted ground of theology, and affirmed the most conspicu- 
ous truths of the orthodox faith. Its very brevity and sim- 
plicity, however, provoked criticism. Because it did not 
include more, it was suspected of being fatally defective. 
It was whispered that the new Church denied the doc- 
trine of the Trinity, inasmuch as it did not include in 
its theological formula the Athanasian and the Nicene 
Creeds. The Christmas Conference desired Coke to pub- 
lish his sermon on " The Godhead of Christ." This he did 
shortly after the Conference rose, and thus lie hoped to 
hush the whisperings of heresy respecting the Church in 
that particular.* Never did a body of ministers adhere 
more thoroughly to the doctrine of the tri-personality of 
the Godhead than those who composed the Conference 
which organized American Methodism into a Church. 
Isever did a Church enter upon its mission with a creed 
more in consonance with reason and the intuitions of the 
soul ; never since the pentecostal epoch was a creed 
more successfully employed in the work of salvation and 
of civilization. 

* " Coke's Journal ; " " Arminiau Magazine," (American,) 1789, p. 193. 



124 Centennial History of 



CHAPTER VI. 

MISSIONARY MOVEMENTS OF THE NEW CHURCH. 

ONE of the most remarkable facts about the Christmas 
Conference of 1784 was its unselfish consideration of 
the wants of the foreign field. Though the new Church 
numbered only about eighty ministers, and its field at 
home was large and constantly extending, it ordained 
three preachers as missionaries to other lands. It had no 
missionary organization, no treasury filled with gold, 
but it was at its birth a missionary Church. Says a prim- 
itive itinerant: "Such was the poverty of the Church 
without missionary funds, that the minister who would go 
must beg his way, and trust for his reception. If the 
Lord Jesus did not cause him to find friends by touching 
their hearts, he must be friendless as well as penniless. 
He could not say, ' I am a Baptist, or I am a Presby- 
terian ; I am a Quaker, or I am a Churchman — I claim 
something from you, as your fathers were of our religion ' 
— but, 4 1 am a "Wesleyan Methodist ; please to hear me, 
and if you do not like my doctrine, tell me so, and I will 
go from you peaceably if you will let me.' " * 

The new Church made good its " apostolic boast," im- 
mediately after its organization, by responding to a call 
for help from Nova Scotia. It sent two laborers to 
that northern field. It also heard an appeal from the 
tropics, and sent a preacher to the island of Antigua — 
the land of earthquakes and of hurricanes. The mission- 
aries to the former field were Freeborn Garrettson and 
James O. Cromwell. Jeremiah Lambert went alone to 
Antigua. 

* Phoebus's " Memoirs of Whatcoat." 



American Methodism. 



125 



As the Church at the Christmas Conference had no mis- 
sionary treasury from which to draw funds for the equip- 
ment and transportation of its missionaries, it obtained 
money for the purpose by a public collection. The first 
collection American Methodism raised for foreign mis- 
sions was at Baltimore, during the session of the historic 
Conference of 1784. Coke, who became the facile jprhv- 
ceps of Methodism in the great missionary movements 
which have honored its history, records both the fact and 
the amount of that collection. Considering the feebleness 
and poverty of the Church at the time, it may be called 
liberal. Coke says : " One of the week days, at noon, I 
made a collection toward assisting our brethren who are 
going to Nova Scotia and Antigua, and our friends gener- 
ously gave £50 currency (£30 sterling.)" * Coke also pro- 
cured funds for the same purpose in other cities after the 
Conference closed, for he says : " Our friends in Philadel- 
phia and New York gave me £60 currency for the mis- 
sionaries, so that upon the whole I have not been above 
£3 or £4 out of pocket on their account." f 

Dr. Coke was the first missionary secretary and treasurer 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. True, the Church 
knew nothing of such offices then, yet he did the work 
which appertains to them. On Monday, the third of 
January, 1785, he left Baltimore, and on the eighth of 
that month he was in Philadelphia, where he urged the 
claims of the missionary movement, and received con- 
tributions therefor. On the twenty-second of the same 
month he was in the city of New York, where he was 
chiefly occupied with the affairs of the missions, for which 
lie there received further aid. There also he published his 
sermon on " The Godhead of Christ," in compliance with 
the desire of the Christmas Conference. 

In New York, Coke arranged for the departure of the 
missionaries. He secured passage for Garrettson to Hali- 

* " Arminian Magazine," (American,) 1789, p. 292. f Ibid. 



126 



Centennial History of 



fax, and " left," lie says, " some money for Brother Crom- 
well, who is soon to follow him. 53 He also says : " I have 
now given over all thought of going to the West Indies ; 
but have taken a ship for Brother Lambert, our elder. 
He is an excellent young man, and will, I trust, be a great 
blessing in that country." * 

The total sum raised by Coke for the missions in the 
three cities whose contributions he records, was £110 cur- 
rency— £66 sterling— or about 8325. That first contribu- 
tion of the Methodist Episcopal Church for foreign mis- 
sions is noteworthy. From its organization the new Church 
was consecrated to the great work of the world's evan- 
gelization. 

About the middle of February, 1TS5, Garrettson and 
Cromwell sailed for Halifax. + They encountered a severe 
storm, "so that," says Garrettson, " we almost despaired 
of life." They, however, after a two-weeks' voyage, 
reached their desired haven. They began their mission 
immediately in that " land of frost and snow." Cromwell 
went to Shelbourne and Garrettson remained at Halifax, 
where he laid the foundation of the Church. 

The work prospered under the labors of the missiona- 
ries and many were brought to God. Garrettson, however, 
nearly perished from the severity of the weather. While 
riding to an appointment, through an unsettled country, with 
the hail beating in his face, he became unable to guide his 
horse. At length the horse stopped before an hospitable 
door, the only dwelling he, for some time, had seen. He 
was able to dismount and throw himself upon a bed. Only 
children were in the house, but they covered the benumbed 
missionary, and for nine hours he lay almost insensible. 

Concerning his own work Cromwell wrote : " The Lord 
enabled me to go on as far as Cape Negro. I could only 
stay to preach a few sermons. It would do you good to 

* "Arrninian Magazine." (American.) 1780, p. 292. 
| Experience and Travels of Garrettson." 



American Methodism. 



127 



see the dear people, some rejoicing and others mourning. 
Depend upon it, there is a blessed revival here." 

Garrettson was summoned by Coke to the Conference 
at Baltimore in 1787. On the tenth of April of that year 
he sailed from Halifax for Boston, leaving in Nova Scotia 
" about six hundred members of society." As the founda- 
tions of the cause in that land had been laid previously to 
their appointment, it is not likely that all those members 
were gathered while Garrettson and Cromwell labored 
there, though their work was successful. Lee, in his 
" History of the Methodists," says that, at the Conference 
of 1787, the number of members in Nova Scotia and 
Antigua was one thousand five hundred and ten. 

Garrettson was designated by Mr. Wesley as Superin- 
tendent of the work in the British American dominions ; 
and when the subject was considered by the Conference at 
Baltimore it was, lie says, " unanimously sanctioned. Dr. 
Coke, as Mr. Wesley's delegate and representative, asked 
me if I had made up my mind to accept the appointment. 
I told him I had upon certain conditions. I observed to 
him that I was willing to go on a tour and visit those parts 
to which. I was appointed for one year, and if there was a 
cordiality in the appointment with those to whom I was 
sent, I would return at the next Conference and receive 
ordination to the office of Superintendent. His reply 
was, ' I am perfectly satisfied ; ' and he gave me a rec- 
ommendatory letter to the brethren in the West India 
Islands. I had intended, as soon as Conference rose, to 
pursue my voyage to the West India Islands ; to visit New- 
foundland and Nova Scotia, and in the spring to return. 
What transpired in the Conference during my absence I 
know not ; but was astonished, when the appointments were 
read, to hear my name mentioned to preside in the penin- 
sula."* Cromwell also returned to the work in the United 
States. 

* C-arrettson's Semi-Centenuial Sermon, p. 21. 



123 



Centennial History of 



Lambert, the missionary to Antigua, could not have re- 
mained long in that field ; for finding his health declin- 
ing he returned to Maryland, where he died as early as 
1786. He was a true missionary, being the first Meth- 
odist preacher that was appointed west of the Allegha- 
nies. In 1783 he entered East Tennessee, and helped to 
found the Church in that then wild and perilous land. 
He may, indeed, be considered as the first missionary 
of American Methodism ; for when he bore the Cross to 
Tennessee, it was a mission field. His circuit — Holston 
— " embraced all the settlements on the Watauga, ISTola- 
chucky, and Holston Rivers, including those in what are 
now Greene, "Washington, Carter, Johnson, Sullivan, and 
Hawkins Counties, Tennessee ; and Washington, Smyth, 
Russell, and perhaps Lee and Scott Counties, Virginia. 
As the country was sparsely settled, provisions scarce, and 
the Indians very troublesome, his hardships and suffer- 
ings must have been severe — no accommodations for trav- 
eling, lodging, study, or any thing else. Without hope of 
earthly reward, and often without food or shelter, he made 
his way as best he could in the name and for the sake of 
Him who said : ' Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
end of the world.' " * It is not strange that such a hero 
should have been ready to carry the glad tidings to a for- 
eign shore. 

The missionary zeal which glowed in the heart of the 
young Church did not expire after its glorious manifesta- 
tion at the Christmas Conference. While Garrettson and 
Cromwell were yet in xsova Scotia, and Lambert had so 
quickly exchanged his tropical mission field for Paradise, 
another missionary movement was projected. On the last 
Sunday in the month of April, 1786, Asbury took up a 
collection in Baltimore " to defray the expenses of sending 
missionaries to the western settlements," and, he says, u I 

* The Eev. Dr. M'Annally, in ITFerrin's "History of Methodism in Ten- 
nessee." 



American Methodism. 



129 



spoke twice on the same subject through the course of the 
week." At the Conference held in Baltimore, in May, 
1786, James Haw and Benjamin Ogden were appointed 
to the country of Daniel Boone ; and thus Kentucky be- 
came one of the earliest theaters of the missionary energy 
and enthusiasm of that Church whose victorious inarch 
over the world began with the year 1785. Before the 
young missionaries lay a wilderness untrodden and path- 
less, and beyond it a dense forest which was the abode 
of savages and of wild beasts. ~No place of friendly shel- 
ter, no itinerant's home that they knew, awaited them. 
~No expectant eyes watched their coming. No board of 
missions gave them assurance of support. Through the 
wild solitude they journeyed, not to seek wealth nor 
ease, but to endure hardship, toil, and peril for the sake 
of Christ and of souls. They reached their appointed field 
in the latter part of the summer, and began the proc- 
lamation of the Gospel. Some Methodists from Mary- 
land had previously been attracted to the new and 
fertile land which Boone made famous by his daring 
exploits, and one of these was among the first to give the 
missionaries a welcome. In the home of Thomas Steven- 
son, whose son, the Rev. Dr. Stevenson, in a subsequent gen- 
eration was prominent as a minister, Mr. Ogden remained 
for some days, gathering the people together at night for 
religious instruction, and visiting and praying with them 
by day. 

The missionaries were esteemed as men of great zeal and 
devotion, and their work was successful. A Presbyterian 
lady heard them and was immediately convicted and soon 
converted, she having previously been destitute of vital 
piety. She joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, and 
subsequently gave a son — Jonathan Stamper — to the itin- 
erancy, a son whose zeal and eloquence contributed largely 
to the growth of Methodism in Kentucky. 

At the close of the year ninety members were reported. 
6* 



130 



Centennial History of 



In view of the sparseness of the population and the diffi- 
culties the missionaries encountered, the results of the 
year's labors were by no means small. 

Not being able to make the necessary journey, so as to 
report in person at the Conference, Haw wrote concerning 
the work, and strongly pleaded for re-enforcements. He, 
however, urged that none should be sent who were afraid 
to die. Kentucky was then an Indian battle-ground, and 
the merciless savages, wily and bloodthirsty, from their 
skulking places shot and scalped the white man, or car- 
ried him away into captivity, to be, perhaps, the vic- 
tim of terrible tortures. Sometimes the Indians would 
thrust sharp sticks into the quivering flesh of the af- 
frighted captives, and then set them on fire. Some of 
their fiend-like atrocities were too horrible to contem- 
plate. In traveling abroad among the settlements the 
missionaries, risked these appalling perils. While, there- 
fore, Haw called loudly for help, he made it clearly 
known that no preachers were wanted except such as 
would dare to face torture and death for Christ's sake and 
for the sake of perishing sinners. When his letter, setting 
forth the necessities of the work and the dangers involved 
in prosecuting it, was read to the Conference, Thomas 
Williamson, a young preacher, stepped forth, and in effect 
said : " Here am I ; send me." He was taken at his word 
and appointed to Kentucky with James Haw and Wilson 
Lee. He, as would be expected of such a hero, proved 
a faithful and successful laborer. Another circuit was 
formed, which was traveled in 1787 by Benjamin Ogden, 
and extended into Tennessee. 

In charge of such heroic preachers, of course the work 
advanced. Revival flames were kindled that swept over 
the territory. Haw wrote to Asbury, saying : "A letter 
from Brother Williamson, dated November 10, 1788, in- 
forms me that the work is still going on rapidly in Ken- 
tucky; that at two quarterly meetings the Lord poured 



American Methodism. 



131 



out his Spirit and converted ten penitents and sanctified 
five believers at the first, and twenty more were converted 
at the second. Indeed, the wilderness and the solitary 
places are glad, and the desert rejoices and blossoms as the 
rose, and I trust will soon become beautiful as Tirza and 
comely as Jerusalem. What shall I more say ? Time 
would fail to tell you all the Lord's doings amongst us ; it 
is marvelous in our eyes. To Him be glory, honor, praise, 
power, might, majesty, and dominion, both now and for- 
ever. Amen, and amen." 

In the same letter Haw describes a quarterly meeting 
held in Bourbon County, Kentucky, in July, 1788. He 
says : " The Lord poured out his Spirit in a wonderful man- 
ner, first on the Christians, and sanctified several of them 
very powerfully and gloriously. The seekers also felt the 
power and presence of God, and cried for mercy at the 
point of death. We prayed with and for them, till we had 
reason to believe that the Lord converted seventeen or 
eighteen precious souls. Halleluiah ! " At another quar- 
terly meeting soon after, he says : " The work of sanctifi- 
cation among the believers broke out at the Lord's table, 
and the Spirit of the Lord went through the assembly 
like a mighty rushing wind ; some fell, many cried for 
mercy. Sighs and groans proceeded from their hearts ; 
tears of sorrow for sin ran streaming down their eyes. 
Their prayers reached to heaven, and the Spirit of the 
Lord entered into them and filled fourteen or fifteen with 
peace and joy in believing. Salvation ! O, the joyful sound. 
How the echo flies." * 

Some time in the summer of 1738 Haw went to Cum- 
berland Circuit with Peter Massie, where they had large 
success in winning souls. He writes : " Brother Massie is 
with me going on weeping over sinners, and the Lord 
blesses his labors." 

The zealous Haw heard of Natchez, on the Mississippi, 

* " Arminian Magazine," (American,) 1189. 



132 



Centennial History of 



then under the government of Spain, where, lie says, " there 
are (they say) six or seven hundred American families who 
have no Protestant minister of any kind, and who, I fear, 
are perishing for want of the bread of life." He evident- 
ly felt that if it were practicable the Church ought to ex- 
tend its missionary operations to that region, and says : 
" I expect to know by the spring if there be free and full 
toleration there, and if there be, to make the report to the 
Conference." Thus did the young missionary Church 
watch for openings into distant fields, and yearn to " preach 
the Gospel to every creature. 5 ' 

We have seen that before the organization of the Church 
the mission field in Tennessee was visited and cultivated 
by Lambert. The next year Henry Willis succeeded him 
in that work. As a result of its remoteness Willis failed 
to reach the Christmas Conference at Baltimore. At a 
Conference in the spring of ITS 7 volunteers were called 
for to go with John Tunnell as missionaries to East Ten- 
nessee. Mr. Tunnell's father had written to his son, de- 
scribing the religious destitution of the people in that 
country, and urging him to come to them "and bring with 
him two or three young men who counted not their lives 
dear ; " for, he added, " their lives will often be in jeop- 
ardy from the red men of the wilderness." Willis, from 
his personal observation, confirmed all that the elder Tun- 
nell had said, and stated that those who went there " should 
know that they must ford and swim the rivers at the risk 
of life ; sleep, if they could, in the summer in blankets, 
and in winter in open log-cabins with light bed-clothes, 
and often in bed with two or three children." He further 
insisted that they should understand the perils from the 
cruel Indians. " The red man," he said, " seeing his pos- 
sessions wasting away, as the white man approaches, has 
become infuriated, and is resolved to sell his country at the 
dearest rate, and, savage-like, wreaks his vengeance indis- 
criminately. Many a hapless virgin, or mother and her 



Amekican Methodism. 



133 



innocent babes, are slaughtered or led away captives." 
Mr. Willis further said that money was scarce in that coun- 
try and clothing dear.* 

Three young men, however, one of whom was Thomas 
W are, in defiance of all the hardships and dangers of which 
they were thus apprised, responded to the call. When 
they reached their perilous field they saw how great was 
its need. " The population," says Ware, " was vastly 
scattered, insomuch that a parochial ministry could not 
be supported. And, although it had become a State, it 
might rather be called a pagan than a Christian State ; 
for, when we arrived there, there were not more than 
four or five sorry preaching-houses within its whole juris- 
diction, two of which had been built by the Methodists." 

The perils from savages Mr. Ware experienced. One 
day he approached a high grove, when suddenly his horse 
snorted and wheeled about. At that moment Ware es- 
pied an Indian, too far off, however, for rifle shot. He 
gave rein to his horse and rode to the nearest settlement. 
But for the fright which his horse showed at the eight of 
the Indian he might have been captured or scalped. At an- 
other time, while he was preaching at a dwelling-house, an 
alarm was heard. " Indians !" was shouted. The audience 
were seized with terror. Each man instantly grasped his 
rifle and rushed out. Two lads were seen running and 
screaming, " The Indians have killed mother." About a 
quarter of a mile away the preacher and his congregation 
found the woman into whose head a stealthy Indian had 
plunged the tomahawk in the sight of her children. 
They were far enough away to escape, but their exclama- 
tion, u The Indians have killed mother," was, alas ! too 
true. 

In 178T Mr. Ogden, as we have seen, was sent to Cum- 
berland Circuit, which also embraced a portion of Middle 

* The Rev. Thomas Ware in "Christian Advocate and Journal," Febru- 
ary, 1834. 



134 



Centennial History of 



Tennessee — adjacent to Kentucky — the region of Nash- 
ville and Gallatin. These Tennessee settlements were 
kept in a state of alarm, if not of desperation, by the In- 
dians. " Those who attended on the ministry of the word 
went armed, not knowing what moment they wonld be 
attacked and massacred. Yet this missionary of the Cross 
traveled through a considerable desert from Kentucky, 
and preached the Gospel in those forlorn settlements." 
Thus American Methodism opened its great and illustrious 
career as a missionary Church. 

Having grandly begun, the young Church continued to 
earnestly toil in the mission held. In 1796 Coate and 
Wooster, as we shall soon see, braved the hardships of the 
great wilderness in reaching Canada. In May, 1806, As- 
bury wrote Coke: " Tlie Western Conference has been 
mindful of the region beyond them — I mean south-west of 
the Territories, on the Mississippi and Louisiana. We 
have six missionaries who have gone into those parts among 
the savage tribes six, eight, or nine hundred miles through 
the wilderness." In the same year he wrote : " We have 
made efforts to establish a mission among the French in 
Canada. Our Mississippi missionaries are pushing on 
south-west toward the Pacific Ocean." March 30, 1808, 
Asbury wrote to Coke, saying : " We have to thrust out 
several of our preachers into the extremities, and some 
preachers and their wives have to draw almost their whole 
salary from the Conferences. Last year we had to send 
six missionaries nine hundred miles through the help of a 
voluntary collection from the Western Conference. We 
gave only ten dollars to each of the missionaries who had 
five and six hundred miles to travel through the Indian 
country." Thus, with slender pecuniary equipment, but 
with heroic zeal, the Methodist missionaries entered the 
open doors, penetrating the wilderness and the solitary 
place, preaching the Gospel. 



American Methodism. 



135 



CHAPTEK VII. 

THE OLD ITINERANCY. 

ONE of the chief acts of the Christmas Conference was 
the formal organization of the American Methodist 
itinerancy. Though born in a university, Methodism 
quickly began to itinerate. The Wesleys and White- 
field went to and fro over the land and the sea. No oppo- 
sition baffled them, nor dangers appalled. Wesley was soon 
joined in his labors by other clergymen of the Church ; and 
particularly by zealous converts who, though they had not 
received the imposition of hands, had received power from 
on high. " The employment of la} 7 preachers, in the judg- 
ment of every body but their patron, was sufficient to ruin 
his cause. How desperate, how mad, must the attempt 
have appeared, to make head against a kingdom of op- 
ponents with such raw and undrilled recruits. But the 
members of the Establishment at length beheld with 
amazement the progress of Wesleyan Methodism." 

Robert Strawbridge, one of the first, and, according to 
Asbury, the first, of the founders of Methodism in this 
country,* though a local preacher, traveled abroad. Wes- 
ley's missionaries soon appeared in the field, and quickly 
swept over almost all the settled portions of the American 
provinces. 

The itinerancy in America was put under an effective 
system by Mr. Wesley. On the tenth of October, 1772, 
Mr. Asbury received from him the appointment of As- 
sistant. In 1773 Mr. Wesley sent two additional laborers, 
namely, Thomas Rankin and. George Shadford. " As Mr. 

♦Asbury, in his "Journal," vol. iii, p. 24, and in the year 1801, says: 
" Here Mr. Strawbridge formed the first society in Maryland and America." 



136 



Centennial History of 



Rankin had been a traveling preacher longer than Mr. As- 
bury, he took the superintendence" and was styled the Gen- 
eral Assistant." Rankin, as we have seen, left the country 
in the stormy days of the Revolution. Then " Mr. As- 
bury, the only old preacher that determined, in those peril- 
ous times, to give up his parents, country, and all his nat- 
ural connections, was finally and unanimously chosen by 
the preachers, assembled in Conference, General Assist- 
ant," * This was done in April, 1779, when communi- 
cation with England was closed by the war. After the 
war ceased Mr. Wesley again wrote Asbnry, appointing 
him to the office to which his brethren had elected him, 
and he received the letter about a year before the Christmas 
Conference. 

The itinerant preachers, under the system then existing, 
were of three grades, namely, helpers, assistants, and 
general assistants. The helper was the young or junior 
preacher of the circuit. " The assistant was the eldest 
preacher in the circuit, who had the charge of the young 
preachers and of the business of the circuit. The gen- 
eral assistant was the preacher who had the charge of 
all the circuits, and of all the preachers, and appointed 
all the preachers to their several circuits, and changed 
them as he judged necessary. His being called a gen- 
eral assistant, signified that he was to assist Mr. Wesley 
in carrying on the work of God in a general way, with- 
out being confined to a particular circuit as another 
preacher, "f 

The Christmas Conference, as we have seen, adopted two 
orders for the ministry, namely, deacon and elder; and also 
the plan of a Superintendence as received from Mr. Wes- 
ley. It vested in the Superintendents the power to ap- 
point the preachers to their work. That authority was 
exercised under Wesley by Rankin and by Asbury, each 

* Life of the Rev. William Watters, p. 104. 

f " Wesleyan Repository," article ou ••American Itinerancy." 



American Methodism. 



137 



of whom served, though not at the same time, as General 
Assistant. The General Superintendents, as was shown 
on a former page, were not invested with any authority 
which Asbury did not previously exercise, except that of 
ordination. 

Another important member of the itinerant organization 
came into existence at the Christmas Conference ; namely, 
the office of presiding elder. Bishops Coke and Asbury, in 
their Notes on the Discipline of 1796, inform us that " in 
the year 1784, the presiding eldership did, in fact, though 
not in name, commence." They also say that " when Mr. 
"Wesley drew up a plan of government for our Church in 
America, he desired that no more elders should be or- 
dained in the first instance than were absolutely necessary, 
and that the work on the continent should be divided be- 
tween them in respect to the duties of their office. The 
General Conference accordingly elected twelve elders for 
the above purposes." A writer on " American Itinerancy," 
in the "Wesleyan Repository," July, 1822, says: "The 
year following the General Conference [of 1781] the Super- 
intendents selected several elders, and gave them the over- 
sight of a number of circuits, with power to direct all the 
preachers in their respective districts during the absence of 
the Superintendent." The two Superintendents, in their 
" Notes," furthermore say : " Bishop Asbury and the Dis- 
trict Conferences * afterward found that this order of men 
was so necessary that they agreed to enlarge the number 
and give them the name by which they are at present 
called ; and this proceeding afterward received the ap- 
probation of Mr. "Wesley." The office was formally 
adopted by the first General Conference of the new 
Church in 1792. That " General Conference, equally 
conscious of the necessity of having such an office among 
us, not only confirmed every thing that Bishop Asbury and 
the District Conferences had done, but also drew up or 

* Now known as Annual Conferences. 



138 



Centennial History of 



agreed to the present section for the explanation of the 
nature and duties of the office. The Conference clearly 
saw that the Bishops wanted assistants ; that it was im- 
possible for one or two Bishops so to superintend the vast 
work on this continent as to keep every thing in order 
in the intervals of the Conference without other official 
men to act under them and assist them." * 

Asbury was not inclined to multiply presiding elders 
further than the work required. In April, 1805, he 
wrote to the Be v. William Colbert, then in charge of 
the Chesapeake District : " I have some serious thoughts 
about a change of the presiding elders of the Susque- 
hanna and Chesapeake. Perhaps some things in the for- 
mer case may make it ready. How you may feel I can- 
not say. I am not forward to increase that order only as 
they are necessary." f 

During the first quarter of a century of the existence of 
the Methodist Episcopal Church the presiding elders did 
not participate, in a formal way at least, in the work of 
stationing the preachers. They, however, changed the 
preachers when they chose in the absence of the Bishop. 
In a letter of November 7, 1804, to the Rev. Daniel Hitt, 
then presiding elder of Alexandria District, Baltimore Con- 
ference, Asbury confessed the competency of the presid- 
ing elders for the stationiDg work. He was then on his 
way to Charleston, and doubted if he should be able to 
preside at the next Baltimore Conference. In the letter he 
says : " I have written to appoint a president. I believe it 
will come to that in time. I am in no doubt nor fear but 
the Conference will do as well or better without me than 
with me. The presiding elders have more local knowl- 
edge and personal information about the preachers than 
I have. I only go because it is my appointment from 

*Coke and Asbury, "Notes on the Discipline." 

f Autograph letter of Asbury owned by Frank S. Pelter, Esq., Jersey 
City, New Jersey. 



American Methodism. 



139 



the Conference, and to cast in my mite as I cannot be 
idle." * 

" The Bishop's Cabinet " was not known to the admin- 
istration of Asbury, or if it was, it was not until near 
the end of his" career. In the latter part of his life we 
get glimpses of something approaching the cabinet. At 
the Conference in Kentucky, in October, 1805, Asbnry 
says : " I completed my plan for the coming year and 
submitted it to the presiding elders, who suggested but 
two alterations. May they be for the best." In a let- 
ter of November 27, 1812, the Bishop said : " I must 
repose great confidence in, and expect great help from, 
the presiding elders. They must be my committee of 
information, council, and safety." At the Conference in 
Charleston, in December, 1812, he says : " The presid- 
ing eldership and the Episcopacy saw eye to eye in 
the business of the stations." At a Conference in Al- 
bany, in June, 1815, Asbury writes : " Although con- 
fined to my room, I was not prevented from entering deep- 
ly into the consideration of the plan of the stations ; the 
elders thought I came out well." He writes, in Septem- 
ber of the same year, as follows : " As to the stations, I 
should never exhibit a plan unfinished, but still get all the 
information in my power so as to enable me to make it 
perfect, like the painter who touches and retouches until all 
the parts of the picture are pleasing. The plan I might be 

* Bishop Asbury, in this letter to Hitr, says : " I feel my weakness and cal- 
culate upon the probability of a failure in attending the Baltimore Conference, 
to be held at Winchester, Va., April 1 , 1805. This is to appoiut you according 
to the power delegated to me by the late General Conference. You must 
preside in the Conference, and do all things with a single eye to the glory 
of God. Admit, examine, elect and station the preachers, and God be 
with and bless you. Given under my hand the 10th day of November, 
1804. Ever thine, Francis Asbury." The Bishop did preside at the Con- 
ference, however. In his Journal in 1805 he wrote: "April 1. We opened 
the Baltimore Conference : sitting five days in very great order and 
peace." 



140 



Centennial History of 



laboring on would always be submitted to such eyes as 
on glit to see it." 

When Mr. M'Kendree became a Superintendent he called 
the presiding elders to his assistance in the stationing 
work. He, unlike Asbury, had not witnessed the accession 
to the itinerant ranks of all the American preachers. He 
was one of them — a brother, rather than a father. His vener- 
able colleague stood in a parental relation to the Church and 
the ministry ; yet M'Kendree well knew the criticism and 
the agitation occasioned by the exercise of the appoint- 
ing power by Asbury, and the resulting schism of 1792. 
In that agitation M'Kendree stood with the disaffected 
party as a leader, and for a time forsook the itinerancy, 
because the General Conference refused to reduce the 
Bishop's authority. It is believed that, at the General 
Conference of 1792, it was M'Kendree who "said in sub- 
stance, if not verbatim, in opposition to Bishop Asbury's 
power to appoint the preachers where and as he thought 
proper, without allowing them an appeal from the Bishop 
to the Annual Conference — ' It is an insult to my under- 
standing ; and such an extraordinary stretch of power, so 
tyrannical, (or) despotic, that I cannot, (or) will not submit 
to it.' " * When the effort to secure the privilege of an 
appeal to the Conference for the preachers who might be 
grieved by the Bishop's appointment failed in 1792, M'Ken- 
dree took his departure from the General Conference, with 
O'Kelly, and wrote Bishop Asbury, resigning his place in 
the itinerancy, f M'Kendree, however, subsequently re- 
considered his decision and returned to the work. 

^Now that he was raised to the Episcopacy, M'Ken- 
dree declined to exercise the stationing power without the 
formal advice of the presiding elders. His course was not 
in entire accord with the views and practice of Asbury, nor 

* The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper on the " Bishop's Power." " Wesleyan Re- 
pository," vol. iii, p. 303. 

f See Asbury's "Journal," vol. ii., p. 174. 



American Methodism. 



141 



was it authorized by the law of the Church. Still, in a letter 
to Asbury, under date of October 8, 1811, M'Kendree de- 
clares : " I am fully convinced of the utility and necessity 
of the council of the presiding elders in stationing the 
preachers." And he closes the epistle with these positive 
words : " I still refuse to take the whole responsibility upon 
myself, not that I am afraid of proper accountability, but 
because I conceive the proposition includes one highly im- 
proper." * 

The Superintendent's power of appointment was abso- 
lute. He could send the preachers where and when he 
willed. lie could continue a preacher in one place as long 
as he judged best. The Bishop's authority to appoint was 
not restricted by even a " time-limit " until nearly twenty 
years after the Christmas Conference. The Rev. Alexander 
M'Caine wrote : " I rejoice in the recollection that the hand 
that holds the pen that now addresses you drew up the first 
and only restrictive article ever yet imposed on a Methodist 
Bishop ; namely, ' that he shall not allow any preacher to 
remain in the same station more than two years successively, 
except,' etc. And wherefore ? That itinerancy might be 
preserved. And, after a lapse of nearly twenty years, I am 
still of the same mind, and say, respecting it, esto per- 
petual f 

More than twenty years after M'Caine published this 
statement, another claimed the authorship of the resolu- 
tion which embodied the two years' restriction. In " The 
Christian Advocate " of March 27, 1811, the Rev. Aaron 
Hunt said : "I wrote the resolution, and Brother Joseph 
Totten, of the Philadelphia Conference, seconded it. 
When read by the secretary it produced a momentary 
storm of opposition, and was laid on the table. Still in the 
interim of session hours the subject was discussed among 
the preachers, until we were prepared to take action upon 

* "Life of the Rev. William M'Kendree." 
f i: Wesley an Repository," vol. iii, p. 333. 



142 



Centennial History of 



it. When called up from the table, Brother George 
Dougharty, who always consulted the good of the Church 
in preference to the ease of a certain class of preachers, be- 
came its most able advocate, while it was opposed by 
Brothers Eoszel, Roberts, and others, but after an ani- 
mated debate was carried by a large majority." 

As both M'Caine and Hunt claim to have written 
the important resolution, limiting the tenure of the ap- 
pointments to two years, the office of the historian is per- 
formed by recording their respective claims. M'Caine 
printed his statement in January, 1824, less than twenty 
years after the rule was enacted ; Hunt printed his claim in 
March, 1844, almost forty years after its enactment. The 
question is not who offered the resolution in the General 
Conference, but who wrote it.* 

The limitation was strongly opposed, but such men as 
the eloquent and holy George Dougharty, of South Caro- 
lina, and the zealous Jesse Lee successfully advocated 
it. Difficulty had been encountered in removing certain 
preachers. Influential and wealthy congregations showed 
an unwillingness to part with popular ministers, and the 
latter were loath to leave good appointments. Mr. Hunt 
says : " Cyrus Stebbins had been two if not three years 
stationed in Albany, and had so ingratiated himself in the 
affections of some of the most influential members of the 
Church, that every attempt to remove him according to 
usage was met with the most determined "opposition, while 
at the same time he was preparing to enter the Protestant 
Episcopal Church, which he did the following year. Mr. 
Asbury was much afflicted with this and similar cases 
within his field of labor." It is said that, in conversation, 

*The Journal of the General Conference contains this item: " George 
Dougharty moved that the following addition be made to the second answer 
of the third question, fourth section, namely: "Provided he shall not allow 
any to remain in the same station more than two years successively, except- 
ing the presiding elders, supernumeraries, superannuated and worn-out 
preachers. Carried." Colbert was there. He says Dougharty moved it. 



Amebicajst Methodism. 



143 



the rule was suggested to Mr. Asbury, who replied pleas- 
antly, " So you would limit the stationing power ? " to 
which was rejoined, " Nay, we would give strength and 
energy to the stationing power." 

The limitation of the appointments to two years was 
enacted by the General Conference of 1804. Concerning 
that body and its work, Asbury wrote: "Very little was 
done at our last General Conference, considering what a 
body of preachers were together. We passed a limitation 
act, that no preacher should stay longer than two years in 
any circuit. Before this the General Superintendents 
could let them stay seven years, if they chose." * The 
Bishop uses the term " seven years " in an indefinite sense. 
There had been no limit at all. Mr. Hunt states that he 
had "good reason to believe that Bishop Asbury was 
always well pleased with " this limitation. 

A chief feature of the itinerancy was the ministerial 
activity it required. If a preacher settled he lost his place 
in the ranks. The law of the system was constant mo- 
tion. Asbury, upon whom the work of the Superintend- 
ency chiefly devolved — for Coke was most of the time 
away from the country — traveled more abundantly than 
his preachers. 

He was the main bulwark, as well as the indefatigable 
leader, of the itinerancy. The Kev. Nicholas Snethen, 
who was called Asbury's " silver trumpet," says : '* We 
have always regarded Mr. Asbury as the father of the 
itinerant ministry in the United States. He maintained 
the ground through the early perils. When the want of 
learning was urged as an objection to the admission of a 
young man, Mr. Asbury would reply that the saddle-bags 
were the best school for traveling preachers, meaning that 
they learned faster and best on horseback. But he re- 
garded them as learners on horseback, and no master was 

* Letter from Frauds Asbury to Zachary Miles, dated Baltimore, August 
16, 1804. 



Cextexxial History of 



more ready to rebuke the first indications of presumption 
or indolence. And in effect there was much schooling, 
though to superficial observers there seemed to be none, 
among these youthful itinerants. Experimental and prac- 
tical knowledge was actually gained. How could any 
equal number of young men, with so few means, under 
so many difficulties, have done more work ? In the first 
operations of itinerancy, under the eye of the first Super- 
intendent, or Bishop, in this country, itinerant preachers 
worked out their salvation with fear and trembliDg ; that 
is, their success was not owing to chance or accident : it 
was a real process of cause and effect. The great and 
widely-extended system of itinerancy in our country had 
its beginning, from which it progressed. There was work- 
ing and acquiring experience on horseback. jJt. Asbury 
sincerely believed that to be the best college.'" * 

As the chief of the itinerant forces Asbury greatly 
excelled. Air. Snethen. who knew liim so well, says that 
"the constitutional and habitual temperament of Mr. As- 
bury' s feelings, their ardor and restlessness, kept every 
thing and every body in a state of motion."' Xor was this 
ceaseless activity irksome to the itinerants. Of himself 
Snethen says : " I can now look back upon those youthful 
toils and travels, through which I was borne by the buoy- 
ancy of healthful and vigorous spirits with triumph and 
delight, as some agreeable dream." Said the Rev. William 
Colbert, in his Journal in 1793: <: Though a life of travel- 
ing is very laborious and fatiguing, it is what I glory in." 
The Eev. Freeborn Garrettson. in his Semi-Centennial 
sermon, in 1526. said: ""Were I called back fifify years I 
would cheerfully retrace them in so glorious a cause in 
preference to sitting on a splendid earthly throne." 

Of the personnel of the early itinerancy Snethen says : 
" I do think that the whole of ecclesiastical history 
may be challenged to produce so many men brought 

* Snetnens sermon in the i: Christian World," 1841. 



American Methodism. 



145 



together in so short a time, without the benefit of any 
previous religions education, whose lives and conver- 
sation were generally more becoming the Gospel. A 
few instances of those who were converted from notori- 
ously wicked courses becoming preachers, and a still fewer 
number of apostates, have induced some, whose learning 
and standing in society ought to have secured them from 
such mistaken conceptions, to hold up the Methodist 
preachers as a mere reprobate race ; whereas, the great pro- 
portion of the primitive preachers, especially the natives of 
this country, were young men, the fruit of revivals, but little 
practiced in the schools of vice. On a certain occasion, 
when the work was so rapidly progressing in the east as to 
call an unusual number of preachers in that quarter, Mr. As- 
bury, in allusion to the character and number of the mission- 
aries, and the natural inquisitiveness of the eastern people, 
exclaimed : " I wonder where all these young men come 
from, riding good horses, with watches in their pockets ? "* 

The itinerants met opposition not only from the wicked 
but sometimes from even the clergy. The Eev. Henry 
Boehm said to the writer of these pages, that a Lutheran 
minister in Pennsylvania said: "Ah, beware of these 
land-strollers, for if they once get in, you can never get 
them out," Mr. Boehm added: "The last part of this 
remark was very true; for if our preachers had a revival 
in a place, they could never be got out/' 

When Boehm traveled Annamessex Circuit in 1801, his 
colleague, Willi am Colbert, had an encounter which illus- 
trates how professed Christians sometimes tried to prevent 
the " land-strollers " from getting a hearing. As he was 
passing in summer near a church where stood some beau- 
tiful oaks, Colbert put up an advertisement that he 
would preach there the next day but one from Matt, 
xviii, 3, and noting the fact in his journal he wrote, 
" Lord, give the word success." The day came, and 

*" Methodist History," by the Rev. Nicholas Snethen. 



116 



Centennial IIistoey of 



says Colbert, "I repaired to the trees where I had ad- 
vertised to preach, but such an ado as was made by the 
vestry I never saw. Thomas Laws and old Deshields 
warned me if I had any regard for my soul not to preach 
on the premises, for it was glebe land. I told them I had 
no design to make any disturbance, nor to invade any man's 
rights ; that I saw the trees were in an open common by 
the side of the country road ; that I thought there was no 
trespassing in advertising to preach where it was free for 
cattle and sheep to graze ; but told them I would decline 
preaching under the trees or on their ground, but if the 
people would hear me in the road I was not afraid to 
preach. They told me the road ran through the land and 
I had no right to preach in it. I told them if they would 
convince me I was violating the law of the State I would 
not preach in it. Deshields told me it was against the 
sentiments of the congregation for me to preach there. I 
told him that the sentiments of the congregation were not 
the law of the State of Maryland ; that I had preached 
under trees as near a church by a public road ; that I never 
was denied the privilege of preaching in a common before; 
and told the people again, if they were not afraid to hear, 
I was not afraid to preach. They then told me if I would 
go one hundred yards either way, I should be off their 
ground. T then thought it not worth while to contend 
about going such a small distance, told the congregation to 
follow me and I would preach to them ; but as they were 
few in number, and chiefly women, they got scattered and 
1 expect afraid.* 

The Eev. Nicholas Snethen, who became a traveling 
preacher in 1794, says of the early itinerants : " TTe 
were successful and we were happy. We took no thought 
for the morrow, and made no provision for days to 
come, for we anticipated none in which we were to say, 
we have no pleasure in them. We had no fathers in 

* Colbert's manuscript Journal. 



American Methodism. 



U7 



point of years to tell us that Methodist preachers would 
grow old, and how they feel when they are old. You 
have been accustomed to hear of the privations and suf- 
ferings of the first preachers ; but the usual acceptation 
of these statements is not quite correct. It is true that, 
like other young men, and men in meridian vigor, they 
were subject to the infirmities and diseases incident to 
human nature; but the bright fight, the warm sunshine, 
the spring-time, the May-day of prime life soon dispelled 
these passing clouds ; for sickness itself in youth rarely 
fails to heighten sympathy, the bloom of beauty is only 
obscured, not faded, and low spirits, though distressing, only 
temporary. You are to keep in mind, then, that the primi- 
tive Methodist preachers, strictly so called, were a body 
composed mostly of young men, the leaders and seniors 
being generally under forty, or at most fifty. 

" The graphic representation of the fathers of society is 
generally calculated to mislead, as people do not reflect that 
they could not have been old always. The father of us all, 
[Asbury,] whom you have seen with his black cap, and pale, 
wrinkled countenance, was known among us by his full and 
ruddy English face, his active and determined step, and 
untiring activity. It was not until the morbid action of a 
bilious habit, which was engendered in the low lands, began 
to disclose itself, that the marks of a«;e and labor became 
visible upon him. A sallow and emaciated countenance 
among us was more generally the effect of climate than of 
the privation of domestic comforts. Our ancestors, among 
whom the first preachers labored, if they were unable or 
unwilling to give them much silver and gold, generally 
fed them well, and clothed them warmly. Their frequent 
revivals, while they augmented their fatigue, generally 
ministered to their temporal as well as spiritual delights. 
These were seasons in which the upper and nether springs 
poured forth their most copious and delicious streams. As 
age undermined their vigor, or they sank suddenly into 



148 



Centennial History of 



death, they were succeeded by a blooming race of hopeful 
youth, whose only ambition was to emulate the foremost. 
And though we should not be able in every instance to 
obviate the charge of enthusiasm, never, perhaps, was it 
found in a less offensive form." 

The itinerancy, as it was organized at the Christmas Con- 
ference, was a great missionary system. The preachers 
on horseback, without dependents, were content with a 
nominal salary, while they lived among the people to 
whom they preached. One of them wrote : " The people 
are taught to believe that the Methodist preachers are 
neither avaricious nor extravagant, and they are taught 
truly. As a body there are no men in America, perhaps 
in the world, who live at so little expense, and are more 
economical in expending the donations of the generous 
benefactor." * Their zeal was equal to the demand for 

* " Reply to O'Kelly " by Snethen. The Rev. William Moss left a record 
of the amount of salary paid to him for a period of eleven years, as fol- 
lows: 11 A just account of the money which I received in the different cir- 



cuits I traveled : " 

1788. Tar River Circuit £11 

1189. Halifax Circuit 9 

1790. Hanover Circuit 13 12 10 

1791. Amherst Circuit 10 

1792. Orange Circuit 1112 

1793. Mecklenburg Circuit 19 1 5 

1794. Gloucester Circuit 19 9 6 

1795. Anson and Little Pedee Circuit 619 6 

1796. Norfolk and Portsmouth towns 14 

1797. Sussex Circuit , 19 

1798. Yadkin Circuit 14 7 6 



£148 2 9 

The writer of Mr. Moss's obituary, James Patterson, says : " The sums in 
this statement were put down agreeably to the currency of Virginia: that 
is, six shillings to the dollar, the total of which is about four hundred and 
ninety-three dollars and seventy -nine cents ; the eleventh part of which is 
forty-four dollars and eighty-nine cents." Thus Mr. Moss received quite 
less than an average of a dollar a week in cash during eleven years of 
itinerant service. Mr. Patterson adds : "His case in regard to this was not 



Amekican Methodism. 



149 



their labors. They wandered along highways and by-ways, 
swam rivers, and plunged into forests in pursuit of per- 
ishing souls. They had, as a rule, received the baptism 
for their work at revival altars, and they spread revivals 
over the land. 

Mr. Asbury looked to revivals chiefly for a supply 
of preachers. " He laid it down as a maxim to be relied 
upon, that in every genuine revival there is a propor- 
tion of ministerial seed sown. From the beginning the 
ministry of the Methodists has been so supplied. JSTot 
a few of the immediate subjects of the revivals have 
shown early indications of a movement toward the work." 
Thus the recruits of Asbury were commonly "called 
in revivals, and by revivals, to preach revivals," and so 
they swept over the country like u names of fire." " As 
far as my knowledge of the primitive Methodist preach- 
ers in this country extended," says Mr. Snethen, " I 
can bear testimony to the marks and evidences of their 
sincerity. In point of moral purity and integrity they 
hold a high place in my estimation. Their general igno- 
rance of the vices of the heart and of the world was, in 
some respects, a pledge of their innocence. Their desire to 
do good knew no bounds within the range of possibility. 
Faith, hope, love, and prayer were the means upon which 
they chiefly depended for their success. The young men 
generally acquired, either by imitation or study, a substan- 
tially correct mode of speaking and writing. Men of lib- 
singular. It was a pretty general thing with the Methodist preachers at 
that time. Many of our primitive preachers with such paltry sums planted 
the doctrines of our Redeemer over extensive fields grown up in vice and 
folly." Bishop Asbury made the following record concerning the compen- 
sation of the preachers at the Conference in Virginia, in November, 1794 : 
"After raising and applying what we could, (which was about £50,) we cal- 
culated that one fourth of the preachers at this Conference had received for 
their salary the past year about £10, one half from about £12 to £15, and 
one fourth their full quarterage, (sixty-four dollars.) We had great peace, 
and not one preacher objected to his station." 



150 



Centennial Histoey of 



eral education and correct literary tastes were not found 
among them, though a few were not ignorant of the 
learned languages." 

Among these devoted itinerants the invincible chief, 
Francis Asbury, moved, directing them where and how to 
work. He exercised large authority, but no greater than 
that which a general wields. At the head of his bat- 
talions the commander's word is supreme. Bishop As- 
bury, from the day that he went forth from the Christmas 
Conference, until he ascended to God, was the commander- 
in-chief of the cavalry department of the army of the 
Captain of Salvation in the United States. His soldiers 
knew how well he organized victory, and they followed 
him gladly. At his command they hastened to the field of 
danger and of triumph. The power which he exercised so 
faithfully was necessary to the aggressive movements of 
Methodism. It was very important that the itinerant war- 
riors should be wisely distributed. Without the skillful 
generalship of Asbury they might have neglected posts 
where their presence was most necessary, and bestowed 
much of their force where it wasdeast required. The great 
commander's eye swept the whole field, and by the unchal- 
lenged authority he executed he sent his men where they 
were needed. His vast journeys, which were performed 
in defiance of fatigue and danger, were not simply to 
preach, but to scan the field, learn its condition, inspirit the 
societies, counsel and animate his heroes, and show them 
where to labor. Stripped of the power he possessed, Asbury 
could not have been such a mighty ecclesiastical chieftain. 

None saw so clearly as did he how essential to the great- 
est success of the evangelical movement which he led 
was his power to appoint the preachers. He knew that 
if he were divested of it he " would no more be able to 
send missionaries to the Western States and Territories in 
proportion to their rapid population. The grand circula- 
tion of ministers would be at an end. The surplus of 



American Methodism. 



151 



preachers in one Conference could not be drawn ont to 
supply the deficiencies of others." * 

"When Bishop Asbury had well nigh reached the end of 
his toils, he, in company with his last traveling companion, 
the Rev. John Wesley Bond, was on the borders of one of 
the Western States, where he preached to a congregation 
in the woods. It was just after a battle on our north- 
ern frontier, in the last war with England, when the mili- 
tia in the service of the government refused to cross the 
lines to assist the regular soldiers, who, at a disadvantage, 
fought the enemy. The venerable hero appealed to his 
audience with respect to the disinterested zeal of the Meth- 
odist preachers who first brought them the Gospel. " We 
followed you to the wilderness," said he, " when the earth 
was our only resting place and the sky our canopy ; when 
your own subsistence depended on the precarious success of 
the chase, and consequently you had little to bestow on us. 
We sought not yours, but you. And now show us the peo- 
ple who have no preacher, and whose language we under- 
stand, and we will send them one ; yes, we will send them 
one, for the Methodist preachers are not militia who will 
not cross the lines ; they are regulars, and they must go." f 

Beyond what any of his successors could wisely attempt, 
Asbury, who himself explored "the wilderness and the 
solitary place," in advance of, or in company with, his 
preachers, required obedience to his orders. Sylvester 
Hutchinson was one of the heroes of the early itinerancy. 
He was an intrepid and conquering soldier of Immanuel. 
In 1791 he exhorted and also preached at a quarterly meet- 
ing at the seat of Cokesbury College. Colbert was pres- 
ent, and says in his Journal : " Sylvester Hutchinson gave 

* "Notes on the Discipline," by Coke and Asbury. 

f "Appeal to the Methodists, in opposition to the changes proposed in 
their Church Government," by Thomas E. Bond, M. D. Baltimore, 1827. 
Dr. Bond states that he received the knowledge of this fact from his brother, 
who was with Bishop Asbury at the time. 



152 



Centennial Histoey ue 



us a fiery exhortation." On Sunday, continues Colbert," as 
such a very great number of people came to this quarterly 
meeting to-day preaching was in the woods. Sylvester 
Hutchinson gave a sermon. He spoke powerfully." As- 
bury, without consent of the Conference, it is said, dropped 
Hutchinson's name from the Minutes when he was on a 
visit to the home of his youth. " Finding, on his return, 
that his name was dropped he remonstrated with Mr. Asbury 
and offered to continue in the ministry. Mr. Asbury finally 
offered him a circuit, but it was one in which he was not 
acceptable to the people. There was also another preacher 
who was not very acceptable where he had been sent, and 
Mr. Hutchinson and he proposed to the Bishop that they 
should be exchanged ; but this was refused ; and, turning 
to Mr. Hutchinson, he said : ' Go there, or go home.' Mr. 
Hutchinson answered, ' Then I must go home ; ' and thus 
[about 1305] ended his connection with the Methodist 
Episcopal Church.'' * 

Bishop Asbury, however, did not, in every instance, 
maintain such an unyielding attitude toward remonstrating 
preachers. About the time that he was so rigid in his 
requirement of Hutchinson, he readjusted the appoint- 
ments so as to suit another recalcitrant preacher. In April, 
1805, he said in Ms Journal: "I. M' Combs had refused 
to take his station. After some alterations were made he 
consented to go to Philadelphia.'' 

One of the most admirable traits of Asbury was his 
devotion to the welfare of his preachers. He was as ten- 
der in feeling as he was supreme in authority. " The 
preachers," he exclaimed, " whom I love in the bowels of 
Christ with much affection."' Five years after the Christ- 
mas Conference he writes : " I collected about £28 for the 
poor suffering preachers in the West." In 1506 he was 
at the "Western Conference. " The brethren," he writes, 

* Daniel P. Hutchinson, son of the Rev. Sylvester Hutchinson, to the 
author. 



American Methodism. 



153 



" were in want, and could not suit [clothe] themselves ; so 
I parted with my watch, my coat, and my shirt." * He 
could, when he judged the occasion required it, display his 
authority, but he was a father to his itinerants. " I have," 
he writes, "no interest, no passions in their appoint- 
ments ; my only aim is to care and provide for the flock 
of Christ." f 

Such was the system of ministerial service which was 
established at the organization of American Methodism. 
Such was the central power of that system which, perilous as 
it would have been in the hands of a weak or selfish man, 
Asbury so successfully exercised. The adaptation of that 
unique ministerial system to the country appears prov- 
idential. The settlements were widely scattered. The 
communities were generally small. The nation was in its 
infancy, and, by hard labor, was slowly developing the vast 
resources of the country, the wealth of which was to be 
chiefly enjoyed by subsequent generations. In most parts of 
the land there were but few churches and preachers. The 
tide of emigration flowed rapidly westward. The people 
generally had not the means, and frequently not the wish, 
to call and settle ministers. But the itinerants rode abroad, 
under the direction of their sagacious leader, and gave the 
Gospel to the people. By their preaching congregations 
were collected and societies were formed ; then houses of 
worship, generally small and rude, were built. The Meth- 
odist preachers, in the prosecution of their holy mission, 
led the advancing civilization of the New World ; and in a 
large degree is it due to the ministerial system of Meth- 
odism that the great States west of the Alleghany Mount- 
ains, as well as regions near the sea-board, escaped the 
degradation and perils of semi-barbarism. 

An example of the missionary work accomplished by the 
itinerancy is given by Freeborn Garrettson. In the year 
1790 he visited Boston, Connecticut, and Albany, preach- 

*" Journal," vol. iii, p. 236. f "Journal," vol. ii, p. 223. 

7* 



154 



Centennial History of 



ing through the country as he traveled. He accomplished 
his tour in about four months, and then gives this view of 
the work : " A reformation in a variety of places has taken 
place. Hundreds, if not thousands, in the back settle- 
ments, who were not able to give £100 a year to a 
minister, and could seldom hear a sermon, may now hear 
a sermon at least once in two weeks ; and sometimes 
oftener." Garrettson also speaks of the quickening, 
stimulating effect of the itinerancy upon the other de- 
nominations. " Some of the ministers," he says, u are 
more assiduous in their labors. If you will take pains to 
inquire among them, at least some can tell you that their 
congregations are larger, and where they had one they 
have now two church members." * Many years subse- 
quently, Garrettson remarked : "I have heard it said, and 
that by those who were not very friendly to us, that we 
drive more to other churches than we draw to our own." f 
Thus Methodism, by its itinerancy, not only reached those 
whose souls were un cared for by others, but it stirred and 
strengthened the ministry and the churches that were 
already in the field. 

The Annual Conference has ever been an important 
integral of the system of itinerancy. To it the early 
preachers repaired from their extensive circuits and dis- 
tricts to report the results of their work, and to receive 
from the Bishop new fields of labor. The Conferences in 
the early decades of the Church were often seasons of 
joy and of triumph. They were occasions of preaching 
and exhortation, of fasting, love-feast, prayer, and revival. 
The preachers heard and rejoiced in each other's success. 
They listened to the wise counsels of Asbury. They in- 
spired and cheered one another. They welcomed new 
evangelists to their ranks, and wept as the candidates for 

* "Experience and Travels of Garrettson." Philadelphia, 1791, pp. 247, 
248. 

| Semi-Centennial Sermon. 1826. 



American Methodism. 



155 



a place among them related their religious experience and 
their readiness to preach Christ. 

It was the rale in the days of Asbury for applicants for 
admission to the itinerancy to give an account of their 
Christian life and to be questioned by him respecting it 
before the Conference. In May, 1791, William Colbert 
made the following record in his Journal : " Friday, 6. I 
appeared in the Conference, gave in my experience, and 
was examined by the Bishop." * Sometimes, if not always, 
the Conference sat with closed doors. In a letter to the 
Rev. William Colbert, dated Baltimore, April 16, 1805, 
Bishop Asbury said : " We have had gracious Confer- 
ences — strictly shut up and well disciplined. None but 
members admitted upon any consideration ; no, not those 
upon trial." f 

The itinerancy was organized to proclaim the great- 
truths of the evangelical faith. The itinerants of Meth- 
odism preached " the eternal existence of the triune 
God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost ; the total ignorance, 
wickedness, misery, and helplessness of fallen man by 
nature; the necessity of the remission of sins, and of a 
full renewal of the heart in righteousness and true holi- 
ness after the image of Him that created us ; the in- 
finite mercy and grace of God as the only source of man's 
redemption ; and the atonement made by Jesus Christ for 
the sins of the whole world. They constantly affirmed 
that the complete mediatorial work of Christ is alone the 
meritorious and procuring cause of salvation ; that what- 
ever subordinate means may be employed, the Holy Spirit 
is the grand and proper agent in the work of grace in the 
heart ; that repentance toward God and faith in our Lord 
Jesus Christ are necessary in order to the sinner's actual 
participation of pardon and eternal life ; and that believers 

* The Rev. William Colbert's manuscript Journal. 

f Autograph letter of Asbury owned by Frank S. Petter, Esq., Jersey 
City, Xew Jersey. 



156 



Centennial Histoey of 



must persevere unto the end in the exercises and practices 
of holiness, that their labor may not be in vain in the 
Lord." * They also preached the resurrection of the body, 
the judgment of the last day, the eternal punishment of 
the wicked and the reward of the righteous. These great 
doctrines were on every itinerant's tongue. In barns and 
kitchens, on the city street and the country highway, in 
the woods, in school-houses, in almshouses, and in chapels, 
the voices of the wandering heralds of a free salvation 
were eloquent of these mighty truths. They were the 
burden of their sermons and exhortations, their conversa- 
tions, their prayers, and their songs. 

The primitive itinerants taught these great truths in pri- 
vate as well as in public. They visited and exhorted the 
people at their firesides. The Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, 
in his Semi-Centennial Sermon, said : " We called the 
family together, spoke to each person, and put up suitable 
prayers for their prosperity ; and we seldom left a house 
at any time without prayer, and without giving the hand 
to each person, both white and colored, with a parting ex- 
hortation." They taught their people also in the class- 
meeting. After the sermon they almost always led the 
class, and thus they were informed of the religious state of 
the societies. It is noticeable in the manuscript Journal 
of the Rev. William Colbert how frequently he conducted 
class-meeting after preaching. On Thursday, the 12th of 
August, 1790, he records : " Yisited the sick and met three 
classes, at John Wood's, Widow Russell's, and David 
Weem's." 

In going forth to preach the doctrines they had es- 
poused, the itinerants commonly suffered from exposure 
and hardship. Sylvester Hutchinson, who joined the 
itinerancy in 1789, and who was a traveling compan- 
ion of Asbury for a time, "often stated to his son and 

*TMs fine statement of the leading themes of Methodist preaching is 
found in tho " Arminian Magazine," 1805, p. 235. 



American Methodism. 



157 



wife that he rode from fifty to sixty miles a clay, and 
preached from one to three times, except Saturday, when 
he seldom preached more than once. His compensation, he 
said, was thirty dollars per annum, and often he did not get 
that. He was not accustomed to think what he wanted, 
but what he could not possibly do without." * Mr. Hutch- 
inson's son, Daniel P. Hutchinson, many years ago, com- 
municated to the author of this volume the fact that 
while Mr. Hutchinson was traveling in the north, he was 
attacked with winter fever, but continued to ride all day, 
taking calomel every two hours until he had taken eighty 
grains. One of the da} r s in which he thus swallowed the 
drug he rode through the rain. If he stopped to rest he 
would fall so far behind his appointments that he could 
not overtake them. He was accustomed to rise at four 
o'clock and ride twenty miles before breakfast, sometimes 
reaching the place where he was to take his morning meal 
before the family had risen. He traveled through forests, 
over mountains, across rivers, in storms, sometimes on 
snow-drifts twenty or thirty feet deep, at other times 
almost buried in the huge drifts. 

One of Hutchinson's fellow laborers, the Rev. William 
Colbert, speaks of going through snow-banks in Maryland 
in January, 1792. He says: "Friday, 20. I had a dis- 
agreeable ride from Edward Manifold's to John Low's 
through many banks of snow. O that I may patiently 

' wander up and down, 
And smile at toil and pain.' " 

In the same month, Colbert, who was then on Harford 
Circuit, met another trying episode. " Set out," he 
says, " from James Fisher's for Alexander Cooper's, but 
got lost by the way on Deer Creek, among the hills, 
bushes, and briars. I led my horse up and down the hills, 

* The Rev. Henry B. Beegle, of the New Jersey Conference, letter to the 
author. 



158 



Centennial History of 



pulled down and put up one or two fences, and felt my- 
self so fatigued that the sweat ran down ray face, though 
the weather was cold and snow was on the ground. But 
what was worse than all, my horse went off from me while 
I was putting up a fence, and threw off the saddle and 
saddle-bags, which I had to take up, and waddle after him 
with them on my back through the snow. I thought my- 
self well off that I soon came in sight of a house, and had 
got my horse, and was told it was only two miles from 
Cooper's. So I went on according to directions, got there, 
and undertook to preach from Ezek. xviii, 27." In respect 
to traveling in bad weather, Colbert said : " JSTo weather a 
man can live in ought to stop him." 

Of April 15, 1793, Mr. Colbert wrote : " Brother Ware 
and I rose early, and got into a boat at New Sheshequin, 
going down the river — which ran through the mountains 
at all points of the compass — till dark, when we stopped at 
a cabin by the river-side, where we could not get even 
straw to sleep on. However, Brother Ware fixed himself 
on a chest with a bunch of tow for his pillow. I suppose 
he thought himself well off. As for my part, I had to get 
the hay out of the boat for my bed, which a passenger 
begged a part of." 

The question where and how he should pass the night in 
comfort and safety was not always easy for the itinerant to 
solve. Jesse Richardson traveled Lincoln Circuit, South 
Carolina, in 1790. One very cold evening about sunset he 
reached a house at which he sought entertainment. He 
was met by the master of the habitation with a harsh re- 
fusal. The next house was twelve miles distant, and be- 
tween him and it a mountain intervened, over which there 
was no road, and the path was hidden by the snow which 
was falling. The preacher saw that he must have shelter 
in the abode of the heartless man, or freeze. He renewed 
his request, but, " No, you shall not," fell on his ear even 
more piercingly than the wintry blast. 



American Methodism. 



159 



With no alternative Richardson dismounted, tied his 
horse, and sat down shivering on the door-sill. The prim- 
itive itinerants loved to sing, and commonly they were 
gifted in song. Richardson began to sing. The man 
heard him, and soon said : " You seem to be quite merry, 
and you must be very cold, too. Would you not like to 
have a little tire?" "Thank you," said the itinerant," it 
is of all things what I most want, for it is, indeed, very 
cold." Fire was brought, and from the wood which lay 
in the yard he kindled a strong blaze. This brought the 
hardened man forth again, saying, " What are you doing 
out there, burning up all my wood? Put out that fire and 
come into the house." The preacher obeyed, and then 
said, " My horse has had nothing to eat since early this 
morning. If you will let me put him in the stable and 
feed him, you shall be well paid for it." This was refused, 
nor would he allow Richardson to eat, nor pray with the 
family. Denied a bed, the man of God lay down in his 
overcoat and slept before the fire. At early dawn, in cold 
and hunger, he departed.* 

How an itinerant could win a night's entertainment by a 
song was shown by James Axley, a man of mark in the 
pioneer days. After traveling all day without dinner, 
evening found him at the house of a widow lady who did 
not welcome him. His application for entertainment was 
refused. Nothing seemed to promise him exemption from 
lodging in the woods, in an inclement season, without food. 
The good man lingered a little by the fire, and thought of 
his hard fare, hungry, chilled, and shelterless. Then his 
thoughts rose above his trials and his faith expatiated 
amid the riches of his celestial inheritance. In these in- 
spiring musings his voice began to utter, in melodious ca- 
dences, the hymn, 

"Peace, troubled soul, thou need'st not fear, 
Thy great Provider still is near; 

* Sliipp's " History of Methodism in South Carolina." 



160 



Centennial History of 



Who fed thee last, will feed thee still: 
Be calm, and sink into his will." 

As lie sang liis feelings became more elevated ; " the vision 
of f aitli ranged above and beyond the desolate wilderness he 
had just been contemplating as the place of his night's so- 
journ. The family were soon all melted into tears. The 
lady called a servant and ordered him to put the gentle- 
man's horse into the stable, and the daughter added, ' Be 
sure you feed him well.' " * 

Not always did the itinerants obtain shelter at night. 
Samuel Coate was one of the most eloquent of that heroic 
band of wandering evangelists. In 1796 he was appointed 
to Columbia Circuit, New York Conference, but in the 
fall he went upon a mission to Canada. From Bay of 
Quinte he wrote to Bishop Asbury, April 22, 179 7, say- 
ing, " It was with much reluctance that I turned out last 
fall, and through much difficulty came to this place. I 
had to endure wet and cold, and lay upon the ground three 
and twenty nights."f The saintly Hezekiah Calvin Woos- 
ter was Coate's companion in the wilderness, and shared 
his exposure. Wooster died in triumph about two years 
subsequently of pulmonary consumption. 

In 1795 William Colbert was invited by his father to re- 
turn from his wanderings and enjoy the comfort of the pater- 
nal abode, but the love of Christ impelled him onward. He 
says : " Rode to William Downing's, where I found a let- 
ter from my father, who, having been informed that I did 
not enjoy my health, has requested me to come home. 
But with this request it will not do to comply." A few 
months later he wrote : " Last night I laid down in sor- 
row, with some thoughts of traveling no more, as my mind 
is much distressed ; but, thanks be to God ! I awoke this 
morning somewhat refreshed. I want to do the will of 
God, and the will of God be done in me, 

* The Rev. Dr. M'Tyeire in "Biographical Sketches." 

f "The Methodist Magazine for the year 1798," Philadelphia. 



American Methodism. 



161 



' No foot of land do I possess ; 
A stranger in this wilderness: 

A poor, wayfaring man, 
I dwell awhile in tents below; 
And, sorrowing, wander to and fro 

Till I my Canaan gain.' 

May the Lord enable me to be resigned to his will, under 
all the dispensations of his providence, however afflicting 
they may be !" * 

The rough fare and frequent exposures of the Amer- 
ican itinerants were sometimes followed by broken consti- 
tutions, and by even speedy death. In the spring of 1798 
we meet Mr. Colbert at the bedside of a wounded and dying 
fellow-hero. " Thursday I spent," he says, "at John Mil- 
ler's with Michael II. II. Wilson, a young man of talents 
promising usefulness, who appears to have but a short 
time to suffer here below. The hardships of Tioga Cir- 
cuit, in all probability, have in him deprived the Church 
of a useful minister of the word of truth. But a God of 
infinite wisdom and goodness knows what is best for his 
servants and his cause. I have read but little, wishing to 
give as much of my company as I could to this son of 
affliction." f 

Of this fallen evangelist the Eev. Henry Boehm, in his 
"Reminiscences," says: "Michael H. R. Wilson visited 
Lancaster County, and fell at his post while the dew of his 
youth was on him. He was from Maryland, and only 
twenty-eight years old when he died, April 21, 1798. He 
finished his course with joy at John Miller's, in Strasburg." 
Of Mr. Wilson's closing scene the Minutes say: "He 
was patient under affliction, enjoyed peace in liis soul, 
and in a painful struggle with death he rejoiced in the 
Lord, being more than conqueror through Him that loved 
him." 

♦Journal in manuscript. The stanza as quoted by Colbert varies slightly 
from the common reading. I give it exactl} - as he wrote it. 
f Colbert's Journal in manuscript. 



162 



Centennial History of 



Those brave Gospel trumpeters, who were worthy sue- 
cessors of the apostles, literally endured hardness as good 
soldiers of Jesus Christ. 

At the General Conference of 1836, in Cincinnati, 
Nicholas Snethen and William Burke were present as 
spectators. Seated just outside the bar, those venerable 
men, w T ho had seen pioneer service and hardship in the 
itinerancy, entered into conversation about the past. " 'Al- 
tered times,' said Snethen to Burke, 6 since you and I 
used to go to General Conference,' and in his clear, silvery 
tones he added : ' These brethren all look like they were 
well paid, well fed, and well clad ; times have very much 
changed.' Burke replied in his coarse, harsh, and husky 
tones, ' I recollect, in the early days of Methodism, that I 
went one day into Nashville with a blanket coat on me, to 
preach in the market-house. It was not a blanket coat 
either ; it was a blanket with a hole cut in the middle of 
it, and ray head poked through the hole, and it was tied 
round me with a tow string. In that garb I preached to 
the people.' Then Snethen's silvery tones rang out, louder 
far than he was aware : 6 I recollect,' said he, ' when I 
traveled up north on the Kennebec Biver that I was clad 
in a kind of Kentucky jean. My clothes were all thread- 
bare, and my breeches were broken at the knees. I had 
not a dollar in the world. Where or how to get clothes I 
could not tsll. I went home to my lodgings, took off my 
clothes, went to bed, and dreamed that I had no breeches 
at all.' » * 

Burke, in his autobiography, gives a graphic view of his 
privations and trials in the itinerancy. In 1795 he trav- 
eled Hinkston Circuit, in Kentucky, half of the year ; but 
of his w T ork there he says : " Nothing occurred worthy of 
record except hard times. I had patch upon patch, and 
patch by patch, and I received only money sufficient to 

* " Recollections of an Itinerant," by the Rev. George Brown, D.D. Cin- 
cinnati, 1866. 



American Methodism. 



1G3 



buy a waistcoat, and not enough of that to pay for the 
making." 

The men whom the itinerant system sent abroad heroic- 
ally faced scarcity, hardship, and perils. James Haw, as 
we have seen, was one of the first two itinerants that were 
appointed to Kentucky. " He wrote to us," says Dr. Coke, 
in his Journal, of the Virginia Conference of 1737, " a 
most enlivening account of the prospect in his district, 
and earnestly implored some further assistance. i But ob- 
serve,' added he, ' no one must be appointed for this coun- 
try who is afraid to die ! For there is now a war with the 
Indians, who frequently lurk behind the trees, shoot the 
travelers, and then scalp them ; and we have one society on 
the very frontier of the Indian country.' After this letter 
was read a blessed young man (Brother Williamson) offered 
himself as a volunteer for this dangerous work. What can 
we not do or suffer when the love of Christ constrains !" 

The Rev. James Jennings, a conspicuous Southern itin- 
erant, wrote in 1S3± : " In the year 1792 I started as a pio- 
neer of the Cross on the Cherokee Circuit, on the confines 
of South Carolina, exposed to the scalping knife of the 
Indian on one hand, and incessant toil and hunger on the 
other. This frontier circuit was then thinly settled, and a 
previous season of drought had created a scarcity of food 
amounting almost to famine. There were but three places 
in that extensive region where the preachers' horses could 
be fed with corn. Nevertheless we traveled, toiled, and 
preached, and suffered hunger joyfully for the sake of 
perishing souls. I recollect all the remuneration I received 
from the circuit abore mentioned did not much exceed 
twenty-two dollars, and often since not much better." * 

Though not in receipt of comfortable salaries those suf- 
fering itinerants had " souls for their hire." That was a 
compensation which they esteemed far above riches. Says 
Freeborn Garrettson : " I must mention the name of dear 

* li Christian Advocate and Journal. May 30, 1S34. 



164 



Centennial History of 



Caleb B. Pedicord, for lie was an affectionate, good, and 
useful preacher, and was instrumental in bringing many 
souls to God.* When afflicted with hypochondria, to 
which he was subject, his mind would be in a state of 
great dejection ; his usefulness would be hid from him ; 
he would doubt his call to preach, and think of returning 
home. I remember a speech he made in a love-feast, dur- 
ing the sitting of the Conference in Baltimore, which 
moved the whole assembly. He arose, bathed in tears, 
and said : ' My friends, I have labored under heavy trials 
during the past year. I was afraid that I was doing no 
good, and that I was not called to preach ; but a little be- 
fore I left my circuit I went to a house where I met an 
old negro woman, who told me what I said to her on a 
former occasion had been the means of awakening her and 
bringing her to God. " I bless God," said she, "that ever I 
saw you, for now I am happy in religion." O,' said he, 
6 how greatly did this encourage me, for I thought it was 
better to gain one soul for Christ than to gain all the 
riches in the world. And now I am greatly encouraged 
to go forward in the good work, and, God being my helper, 
I will spend the remainder of my days wholly in his serv- 
ice.' After this he served the Church several years and 
then went home to glory."f 

The early itinerants became familiar figures on the high- 
ways of the country. The grave, earnest countenance, the 
straight-breasted coat, the oil-skin covering of the hat, the 
leather saddle-bags, and the staid gait of the horse denoted 
the Methodist preacher, and usually they were " recognized 
by all that ever beheld or heard of one about as far as they 
were to be seen.";}; Such was their faithfulness in filling 

* One of Pedicord's converts was Thomas Ware. 

f G-arrettson's Semi-Centennial Sermon. Pedicord's obituary was the 
first that appeared in the Minutes. It was inserted in 1785 as follows: 
" Caleb B. Pedicord — a man of sorrows ; and, like his Master, acquainted 
with grief; but a man dead to the world, and much devoted to God." 

£ Raybold's "Annals of Methodism." 



American Methodism. 165 

their appointments in the wide territory of their circuits 
that " of a bitterly cold winter it became almost a pro- 
verbial saying, 6 There is nothing out to-day but crows and 
Methodist preachers.' " * 

This is illustrated by the records of the itinerant toils of 
the Rev. William Colbert. He says that Sunday, Febru- 
ary 22, 1794, was "a very rainy, cold morning," but adds: 
" However, I thought I must go to see if any came out to 
preaching. There were a few, to whom I preached with 
much freedom, thanks be to God ! If very inclement 
weather stop the preacher when the people come to hear, 
they will be likely to stay at home when it is not so severe. 
Therefore, upon the whole, I find it best to go in all 
weathers." The last day of February, 1800, Colbert met 
" a very great snow-storm," aud says : " The latter part of 
this day I rode from Thomas Rutter's to James Batten's, 
and preached in the school-house. Saturday, March 1, 
William Best and I set out in a furious snow-storm f from 
James Batten's to William Ball's, near a school-house, 
where I had an appointment to preach, but as the weather 
was so unfavorable and the school-house unoccupied, we 
had no meeting. We dined at William Ball's and pro- 
ceeded to George Hoffman's, where I felt much indis- 
posed by reason of a cold." 

The itinerants did not only encounter snow-storms in 
winter, but also thunder-storms in summer. On Seneca 
Circuit, in June, 1797, Colbert says : " I was overtaken in 
a very lonesome place by a thunder-storm. The wind was 
blowing, the lightning blazing, the thunder rolling, and 
the rain so pouring that by looking up I could not see to 
escape the timber that was falling about me. I was wet 
enough when I got to my appointment, and found it well 

* Raybold's " Annals of Methodism." 

f Of course the snow was deep from the very great storm of the 
preceding day. This was on Chester and Strasburg Circuit, in Penn- 
sylvania. 



166 



Centennial History of 



to get a dry corner to stand in to preach." Five days later 
he wrote : "I do not feel well. I believe it is because I 
am so much exposed to the weather." Soon afterward — 
July 18, 1797 — this hero recorded the following statement : 
" I believe long rides through the mud where we cannot 
go out of a walk, being exposed to heavy rains, bad vict- 
uals, dirty houses, and sleepless nights in consequence of 
swarms of fleas, have been the cause of my sickness. But 
these are light things, and scarcely worthy of being put in 
the catalogue of what is suffered for Christ and the good 
of souls." 

Asbury was foremost in braving toil, hardship, and peril. 
In 1788 he crossed the Alleghany mountains, and says: 
u Our course lay over mountains and through valleys, and 
the mud and mire were such as might scarcely be expected 
in December. We came to an old forsaken habitation in 
Tyger's Valley. Here our horses grazed about while we 
boiled our meat. Midnight brought us up at Jones's after 
riding forty, or perhaps fifty, miles. The old man, our 
host, was kind enough to wake us up at four o'clock in the 
morning. We journeyed on through devious, lonely wilds, 
where no food might be found, except what grew in the 
woods or was carried with us. We met with two women 
who were going to see their friends and attend the quarter- 
ly meeting at Clarksburg. Near midnight we stopped at 
A — s, who hissed his dogs at us ; but we went in. Our sup- 
per was tea. Brothers Phoebus and Cook took to the woods. 
I lay along the floor on a few deer-skins with the fleas. 
That night our poor horses got no corn, and next morning 
they had to swim across the Monongahela. After a 
twenty-miles' ride we came to Clarksburg, and man and 
beast were so outdone that it took us ten hours to accom- 
plish it. . . . My mind has been severely tried under the 
great fatigue endured both by myself and my horse. O, 
how glad should I be of a plain, clean plank to lie on, as 
preferable to most of the beds ; and where the beds are in 



American Methodism. 



167 



a bad state the floors are worse." * Thus amid journey- 
ings, labors, privations, poverty, sufferings, and perils, the 
itinerants of Methodism, with Asbury at their head, spread 
the Gospel over the land. 

Notwithstanding all the toils and trials it involved, the 
early preachers viewed the itinerancy as one of the most 
glorious institutions of their Church. They believed it to 
be in accordance with the example of Christ and his apos- 
tles. An early and eminent itinerant, who wrote in its vin- 
dication, said : " When Jesus commenced his public min- 
istry he became a traveling preacher. Thus he continued 
throughout the whole of his public ministry to set us an 
example. The apostles were willing to follow this exam- 
ple. For the sake of their heavenly Master they forsook 
houses and lands, and brethren and sisters, and fathers and 
mothers, going forth cheerfully to preach the Gospel ; ap- 
proving themselves as the ministers of God in much 
patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, 
in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in 
fasting. They went forth preaching every- where the Gos- 
pel of the kingdom. And this they continued to do amid 
great distress and severe persecutions ; for St. Paul says 
unto the Corinthians of his time : 6 Even unto this present 
hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are 
buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place.' Is there 
one word in the IsTew Testament from which any thing can 
be inferred in favor of a settled ministry ? I think there 
is not. The whole of this sacred book breathes the spirit 
of itinerancy, and all the transactions recorded in it, in ref- 
erence to the ministry, agree with this spirit. That the con- 
tinuance of a traveling ministry through all the ages of the 
world accords with the Divine will, is manifest from the 
promise with which Christ closes his last address to the min- 
isters of his word, ' Go ye therefore, and teach all nations.' 
4 Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.' 

* "Journal," vol. ii, pp. 36, 31. 



168 



Centennial History of 



The command implies a traveling ministry, and the prom- 
ise the continuance of it unto the end of the world." * 

Asbury was strongly opposed to the plan of settling 
ministers. Of settled preachers he said : " Instead of going 
to preach they stay to preach." M'Kendree, the first 
preacher of American birth who was raised to the Superin- 
tendency, wrote in his diary, in 1790 : " What can daunt 
my soul when Jesus says ' Go ? ' I'll run to and fro at his 
command, in ease or pain, and count the sufferings of this 
life not worth mentioning in comparison with the glories 
to be revealed." In a letter dated October, 1802, M'Ken- 
dree describes some striking" scenes at the Miami quar- 
terly meeting in the West, and relates an incident which 
shows how necessary was the itinerancy, of an old 
woman who, he says, was "sitting just behind me while 
Brother Smith was speaking." She "began in a low 
and mournful manner, and expressed herself to the fol- 
lowing purport: 

" ' Lord, I have heard about these people and walked a 
long way to hear them. Yesterday, while the man was 
speaking, I felt very bad, and thought I should fall down ; 
but, Lord, I was ashamed that the people should see me 
cry and fall down, so I was about to get into the woods 
and hide myself, for I did not know that it was the Lord. 
But I could not walk, I fell down among all the people, 
and all my shame went away ! And now I am happy ! 
Bless the Lord, he has converted my soul ! O how light 
my heart is now, glory, glory to King Jesus. But O, 
Lord, my husband is wicked, my children are wicked! 
They must be converted, and there is no religion in the 
neighborhood. ~No one to tell them how to get con- 
verted. Lord, send some of these preachers that have the 
Spirit of God in their hearts into our neighborhood, to my 
house, to tell the people the way to heaven.' " M'Ken- 
dree adds : " This prayer so affected me that, at that time, 

*The Rev. Wm. Beauchamp, posthumous " Letters on the Itinerancy." 



American Methodism. 



169 



I felt willing to preach the Gospel to the poor in every 
disconsolate corner." * 

After he became a Bishop, M'Kendree wrote of the 
itinerancy thus : " The itinerant plan of preaching the 
Gospel, which was pursued by the apostles and their im- 
mediate successors, is undoubtedly better calculated to sup- 
ply the poor with the glad tidings of salvation than any 
other, and, indeed, is the only plan adapted to the uni- 
versal spread of the Gospel." f 

The first Bishops, Coke and Asbury, in their "Kotos on 
the Discipline," said : " Our grand plan in all its parts' leads 
to an itinerant ministry. Our Bishops are traveling 
Bishops. All the different orders that compose our Con- 
ferences are employed in the traveling line, and our local 
preachers are in some degree traveling preachers. Every 
thing is kept moving as far as possible. And we will be 
bold to say, that next to the grace of God, there is nothing 
like this for keeping the whole body alive from the center 
to the circumference, and for the continual extension of 
that circumference on every hand." 

The Bishops were not only advocates but inspiring ex- 
amples of itinerancy. In a document addressed by Asbury, 
near the close of his life, to his only Episcopal colleague, 
M'Kendree, he said : "We can lay no claim to the Latin, 
Greek, English, Lutheran, Swedish, or Protestant Episcopal 
Church order. It will, be seen that we are so unlike them 
that we could not stand as related to them. Would their 
Bishops ride five or six thousand miles in nine months for 
eighty dollars a year, with their traveling expense, less or 
more, preach daily when opportunity serves, meet a num- 
ber of camp-meetings in the year, make arrangements for 
stationing seven hundred preachers, ordain a hundred 
more annually, ride through all kinds of weather, and 

* " Extracts of Letters Containing Some Account of tlie Work of God 
Since the Year 1800." New York, 1805. 

fBishop M'Kendree on Church government, a Life," vol. ii, p. 35G. 

Bar' 8 



Centennial Histoky of 



along roads in the worst state, at our time of life, the one 
sixty-nine and the other in his fif ty -sixth year ? " With 
respect to the itinerancy, Asbury further says : " Let local 
men ordain local men, baptize or rebaptize local men ; we 
must shape our course otherwise, and try sacredly to main- 
tain oar traveling plan, and support a true, missionary, 
apostolic Church." 

In going forth to preach from place to place, from 
State to State, and from State to Territory, the Ameri- 
can itinerants believed that they followed the method of 
their 'Master and his apostles. Thus they were inspired 
to do and to dare. What cared Asbury and his heroic 
band for poverty, toil, deprivation, and danger, if so they 
might preach Christ and save men. Though their gar- 
ments were thin and tattered, they were instrumental in 
clothing multitudes in white and fadeless robes. They 
suffered, but they made many joyful ; they were poor, but 
they made many rich. What though they fell in the wil- 
derness, thousands through their labors would become in- 
habitants of the golden Jerusalem. So they went forth 
weeping, bearing precious seed, assured that they should 
come again, amid the shoutings of harvest, bringing their 
sheaves. 



Amekican Methodism. 



171 



CHAPTEE YIII. 

THE SUNDAY-SCHOOL IN METHODISM. 

IK the month that the Christmas Conference adjourned 
— January, 1785 — Mr. Wesley published in his "Ar- 
minian Magazine " Robert Raikes's account of the origin 
of the Sunday-school. That account was dated the fifth 
of June, 1784, a little less than three months before Dr. 
Coke was set apart by Wesley as a Superintendent of 
the Methodist societies in the United States. The organ- 
ization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, therefore, was 
almost synchronous with the public announcement of the 
commencement of the Sunday-school movement. It may 
be doubted whether Dr. Coke, or any member of the 
Christmas Conference of 1781, had then heard of the Sun- 
day-school, which was yet inchoate. 

It is said that a young Methodist lady suggested the 
Sunday-school to Raikes, in Gloucester, England, in 1781. 
She also was one of his most efficient teachers, and sub- 
sequently became the wife of Samuel Bradburn, a cele- 
brated Wesley an preacher. Wesley not only published 
Raikes's account of the school which he originated in Glou- 
cester, but the Methodists adopted" the institution with 
happy results. They also taught without compensation. 

Raikes's school in Gloucester was, in reality, a charity 
school. It was taught on Sunday by paid teachers, who 
inculcated secular knowledge as well as religious truth. 
The pupils were gathered from the streets, and were of 
the poor and neglected class. In addition to the instruc- 
tion given in the school, they were taken to the Church 
once on the Sabbath, and a decided reformation among 
them was soon visible. 



172 



Centennial History of 



The Wesleyan Methodists employed the Sunday-school 
very soon after Raikes's account was published. They 
established a highly successful school in Bolton Le Moors 
prior to April, 1786, for at that time Wesley records in his 
Journal that the school contained five hundred and fifty 
children. 

In 1787 Mr. Wesley visited the Sunday-school at Bol- 
ton, and wrote of it thus : " Here are eight hundred poor 
children taught in our Sunday-schools by about eighty 
masters, who receive no pay but what they are to receive 
from their great Master. About a hundred of them, part 
boys and part girls, are taught to sing, and they sing so 
true, that all singing together, they seemed to be but one 
voice. The house was thoroughly filled while I explained 
and applied the first and great commandment. What is 
all morality and religion without this 1 A mere castle in 
the air. In the evening, many of the children still hover- 
ing round the house, I desired forty or fifty to come in 
and sing, ' Vital spark of heavenly flame.' Although some 
of them were silent, not being able to sing for tears, yet 
the harmony was such as I believe could not be equaled in 
the king's chapel." 

In September, 1788, a graphic description of that re- 
markable Sunday-school was published in the " Arminian 
Magazine." The account is of historical interest and is 
as follows : 

" In the Methodist Sunday-school at Bolton Le Moors, 
there are about 800 scholars, 40 masters, and nearly as 
many assistants of one kind or other. All that are em- 
ployed in this school (whatever their offices are) offer their 
services willingly without any pecuniary fee or reward. 
Every man stands close to his station and enters into the 
spirit of his work with an intention to do all the good in 
his power to the children under his care. The masters 
love the children and delight to instruct them. The chil- 
dren love their masters and cheerfully receive instruction. 



American Methodism. 



173 



It is about two years since they first began tlie scliool in 
our large, convenient chapel, and a great good attending 
the undertaking appears more and more daily. Not only 
in Bolton, but in the adjacent places from whence children 
come constantly to the school, and others who live in the 
country several miles off. Many of the poor children 
about Bolton have been greatly neglected in their educa- 
tion, and were almost a proverb for wickedness, especially 
Sabbath breaking, which crime is often the forerunner of 
the worst of evils. 

" But we see at present the prospect of a glorious refor- 
mation. Among many who attend at our place there is 
already a great change in their manners, morals, and learn- 
ing. They are taught to read and write by persons who 
are very well qualified for the work. Many of the chil- 
dren can read well in the Bible and write a tolerable hand, 
so that they are qualified for any common business. Their 
natural rusticity is also greatly worn off, and their be- 
havior is modest and decent. About 100 are taught to 
sing the praises of God, in which they have made great 
proficiency, to the admiration of those who hear them. 
But what is better than all the rest, the principles of religion 
are instilled into their minds. The masters endeavor to 
impress them with the fear of God, and by that to make 
all vice and wickedness hateful to them, and urge them to 
obedience by the precepts and motives of the Gospel. 
Each class is spoken to separately every Sunday on the 
nature of religion, and are taught their duty to God, their 
neighbors, and themselves, when the instructions are en- 
forced by serious counsels and solemn prayers." * 

Such an early and successful instance of Sunday-school 
work shows that the Methodists were prompt to seize and 
zealous in developing Raikes's idea. An early historian of 
English Methodism says the Methodists " have had a princi- 
pal hand, both in establishing and supporting the Sunday- 
* "Arminian Magazine," 1788, pp. 489, 490. 



174 



Centennial History of 



schools in most parts of the nation. These schools are 
principally taught by Methodists, and that gratuitously." * 
Another Methodist historian of nearly the same, though 
later, date, states that in the year 1812 the Sunday-school 
work had reached such proportions that the Methodists in 
Great Britain, at that time, gave instruction on the Lord's 
day to " about 60,000 children." f 

K~ot only did the English Methodists quickly appropri- 
ate and employ the Sunday-school, but they also contrib- 
uted money to advance it. The fact was published in 1793 
that in one year one hundred and fourteen pounds were 
contributed in the collections for Sunday-schools in the 
Methodist chapels in Manchester.^: 

Methodists also inaugurated the Sunday-school move- 
ment in other lands. The first school of the kind " ever 
planted in Asia was established by Messrs. Harvard and 
Clough, Wesleyan missionaries at Ceylon." § It is also 
claimed that a W esleyan Methodist, Mr. Charles, of Bala, 
" was either the first, or among the first, to introduce these 
schools into Wales ; and to him is attributed the organiza- 
tion of that stupendous institution, i The British and For- 
eign Bible Society,' which has been significantly called ' the 
blooming daughter of Sabbath-schools,' because the want 
of the Holy Scriptures in the Sabbath-schools of Wales, as 
communicated by Mr. Charles, gave origin to this great 
society." || 

The Sunday-school was quickly incorporated into Amer- 
ican Methodism. A Methodist Sunday-school was held in 
the house of Thomas Crenshaw, in Virginia, as early as 
1786, and it is affirmed that " the first Sabbath-school 

* Crowther's " True and Complete Portraiture of Methodism." London, 
1811, p. 342. 

f Myles's " Chronological History of the People called Methodists." Lon- 
don, 1813, p. 167. 

\ ; ' Defense of the Methodists," by Joseph Benson. London, 1793. 
§ " Methodist Magazine," 1828, p. 350. |] Ibid. 



American Methodism. 



175 



ever established in America was organized nnder the 
direction of Bishop Asbury, and the preachers in con- 
nection with him, for the benefit of the slaves of the 
South." * It is probable that this was the Sunday-school 
which was conducted at the house of Mr. Crenshaw. A col- 
ored pupil, John Charleston, was converted in Crenshaw's 
school, and became a devoted and successful preacher. 

Charleston was quite a hero. The Eev. Stith Mead, 
who was his friend and benefactor, describes him thus: 
" I took with me round my circuit the last time, an 
African preacher, named John Charleston, a man whose 
liberty I had been instrumental in obtaining, by soliciting 
contributions for that purpose, between the years 1805 
and 1809. This African brother has endured the test of 
Methodist scrutiny during a period of forty-one years, 
and has been a preacher of no ordinary rank for thirty- 
nine years. He was ordained a deacon by Bishop 
M'Kendree soon after his liberation from slavery. His 
conversion took place in a Sabbath-school, kept by Thomas 
Crenshaw, who is yet living, and has been a Methodist 
half a century. It was at Mr. Crenshaw's house, in 
Hanover County, that the Eev. F. Garrettson found an 
asylum in the Revolutionary War, when the British were 
plundering the county. 

" The Rev. John Charleston is now in his sixty-first year, 
jet black, between six and seven feet in height, weighing 
230 pounds, has short hair, inclining to be gray. During 
eighteen years of his life he would walk thirty miles in a 
day, and preach three times. He could not be stopped by 
trifles, would wade to his neck through streams of water. 
He had taught his dog to swim rivers and brooks, and 
carry his hymn book and Bible across in his mouth without 
getting them wet. He is a correct and powerful preacher. 
Hundreds and thousands have, I doubt not, been converted 

* First Annual Report of the Sunday-School Union of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church in ''Methodist Magazine," 1828. 



176 



Centennial History of 



through his instrumentality. During his ministry he has 
been severely persecuted ; but out of all his troubles the 
Lord has delivered him." This earliest Sunday-school in 
the United States of which any record is known was abun- 
dantly fruitful, even if it achieved no other result than the 
conversion of that colored youth. 

The above account of Mr. Charleston was copied from 
"Zion's Herald" in u The Christian Advocate," February 22, 
1828. As Mr. Mead, who wrote it, lived in Virginia — it 
is believed in Richmond — it would hardly have been car- 
ried from his hand to Boston in that day of slow convey- 
ance so as to appear in a weekly journal, in much less 
time than a month. Then three or four weeks would 
have been a reasonable period for its re-appearance in 
another weekly journal in is"ew York. It would, there- 
fore, seem that the account of Mr. Charleston was written 
not later than near the close of 1827, or at the latest in 
the first days of 182S.** As he was converted forty-one 
years previous to the time of its writing, his conversion 
in Crenshaw's school must have occurred in 1786, or at 
the latest in the beginning of the year 1787. This de- 
termines the fact that Crenshaw's school was organized as 
early as 1786. f John Charleston was, so far as appears, 
the first American Sunday-school convert. 

Only a little more than five years after the Methodist 
Episcopal Church was organized, Bishop Asbury held a 
Conference in the city of Charleston, and on February 
16, 1790, he wrote from that city to his friend, the Rev. 
Thomas Morrell : " A design of establishing Sunday- 
schools for white and black children and adults is now 

* Mr. Mead's account of Mr. Charleston is introduced in " Zion's Herald " 
as " a late communication," without giving its date. 

| In the first report, 1S28, of the Methodist Episcopal Sunday-School 
Union, the following statement appears: "In the year 1786 a Sabbath- 
school was taught in the house of our aged brother, Thomas Crenshaw, now 
living in Hanover County. Virginia, and in the following year — forty-one 
years aao — the Rev. John Charleston was converted to God in that school." 



American Methodism, 



177 



before the Conference." The next day, namely, Febru- 
ary 17, 1790, he says in his Journal : " Our Conference 
resolved on establishing Sunday-schools for poor children, 
white and black." The great Sunday-school idea was then 
in the initial stage of its development, and the alert and 
sagacious Asbnry helped to shape the growth of the pow- 
erful germ which Raikes planted and Wesley watered. 
Can it be shown that any other body of Christians in the 
United States had adopted the Sunday-school when, early 
in 1790, under the presidency of Bishop Asbury, the 
Charleston Conference committed American Methodism 
and American Christianity to that potential movement ? 

The first Sabbath-school in the United States, outside of 
Methodism, was not formed, so far as appears from any 
historical record, until two years after John Charleston 
began to preach. Hence the Methodist Episcopal Church 
had a Sunday-school in operation four years in advance of 
any other religious sect in America. 

The most authoritative statement, probably, concerning 
the rise of Sunday-schools, other than Methodist, on the 
American continent, is that published in the " Biblical Re- 
pertory and Theological Review," in April, 1830. It is af- 
firmed that " in the year 1791 the first Sabbath -school insti- 
tuted in our country, as far as we can learn, was established 
in the city of Philadelphia. A meeting composed of ' the 
Right Rev. William White, D.D., Dr. Benjamin Rush, 
Dr. William dime, Mr. Thomas Mendenhall, Mr. Thomas 
P. Cope, Captain Xathaniel Falconer, Mr. Sharpless, and 
others, was held on the 19th of December, 1790, for the 
purpose of taking into consideration the establishment of 
Sunday-schools in the city.' The measures adopted at 
that meeting led to the foundation of the First Day or 
Sunday-School Society, on the 11th of January, 1791. This 
society supported three schools for many years, and em- 
ployed teachers whose salaries were paid from its funds, 
which were raised from the voluntary contributions of its 
8* 



178 



Centennial History of 



managers and friends. From 1791 to 1800 more than two 
thousand pupils were admitted into these schools, and dur- 
ing the nineteen years' existence of the institution before 
1810, seven thousand six hundred and thirty-nine dollars 
and sixty-three cents were received into its treasury, and 
almost wholly expended in paying teachers' wages. The 
society, we believe, continued to employ teachers until 
1815, when, as far as we know, the practice entirely ceased 
in this country. 

"In the meantime Sabbath-schools were slowly intro- 
duced into various other places. In New York they were 
commenced by the late excellent Isabella Graham, and 
Mr. Bethune, in the year 1803, and about the same time 
in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and in other towns and 
cities. About the year 1816 the institution began to be 
more generally known and introduced by means of the 
intelligence which was diffused through the medium of 
religious newspapers, which were commenced about that 
period. In the year 1817 i The Philadelphia Sunday and 
Adult School Union ' was formed. This society com- 
menced with about five thousand scholars, and at the ex- 
piration of seven years had nearly fifty-six thousand chil- 
dren in its connection. One of the principal objects of 
this Union was to supply the neighboring schools with 
the requisite books and apparatus of the best kind, and at 
the least expense ; and the advantages of such an establish- 
ment were so obvious, that in a few years auxiliaries to this 
society, of every sect, were found scattered through seven- 
teen States, and its publications during the last year of its 
existence exceeded two hundred and ten thousand, con- 
sisting of reward books, spelling books, etc., for the use of 
the schools. Having thus become national in character, 
not by any wise scheme of man, but imperceptibly .and 
unexpectedly — a fact which itself proves the necessity of 
such an institution — the society assumed a general name, 
in conformity with the wishes, and at the suggestion, in- 



American Methodism. 



179 



deed, of several large unions, in different parts of the 
country, which proposed to co-operate with it. Accord- 
ingly, on the 25th of May, 1824, the American Sunday- 
School Union was formed in the city of Philadelphia." 

Thus it appears that the Sunday-school movement in 
this country, outside of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
began with the organization of a society, January 11, 1791, 
in Philadelphia. It is equally clear that Methodism was 
reaping the fruit of its labor in this field of Christian effort 
in the conversion and successful ministry of John Charles- 
ton years before that date. 

In the Annual Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church of the year 1790 it was said : " Let us labor as the 
heart and soul of one man to establish Sunday-schools 
in or near the place of public worship. Let persons be 
appointed "by the Bishops, elders, deacons, or preach- 
ers, to teach (gratis) all that will attend and have a ca- 
pacity to learn ; from six in the morning till ten, and 
from two o'clock in the afternoon till six, where it does 
not interfere with public worship. The council shall 
compile a proper school book to teach them learning 
and piety." * Lee, the first historian of the Church, 
states that " after this, Sunday-schools were established 
in several places, and the teachers took nothing for their 
services." Thus the Methodist Episcopal Church was also 
the first to employ gratuitous teachers. 

The Rev. Thomas Ware speaks of the extraordinary 
increase of members reported at the Conferences of 1790, 
and then says : "But there were many lambs of the flock, 
and the question occurred, what can be done for these?" 

" We had made it a point in visiting families, to attend 
especially to the children, to converse with them about 
Jesus, and to impress upon the minds of parents the im- 
portance of a religious care for the spiritual health of their 
offspring. W e now resolved as the heart of one man to 

* Lee's "History of the Methodists," p. 163. 



ISO 



Centennial History of 



establish Sunday-schools. Our impression was that by 
these, many, very many, of the rising generation might be 
secured on the side of virtne and religion. But we erred 
in confining these schools chiefly to the poor, and to the 
acquisition of human learning. Our success was not, there- 
fore, commensurate with our confident expectations." * 

One of the preachers who early established Sunday- 
schools was the Rev. John Andrew, whose son. James 
O. Andrew, became a Bishop. Andrew was the first 
native of Georgia who joined the Methodist itinerancy. 
He was admitted on trial in 1789, and traveled only three 
years, when he located. He never returned to the regular 
work. His son. the Bishop, said of him : " He instituted 
a number of Sabbath-schools in his circuit, especially the 
last year that he traveled, and when he became local, he 
pursued the same plan where it was practicable.'' This 
testimony proves that Sunday-schools were in operation at 
several places in the South as early as the Conference year 
1791-2. 

One of the most holy and eloquent preachers Meth- 
odism raised up in South Carolina was George Dougharty. 
Says one who knew him, " His mind was like an orb of 
light on which no perceptible shadows ever fell. ? ' t An- 
other describes him as an "almost unequaled man of 
God, and minister of J esus Christ." J His preaching 
attracted wide attention and made a profound impres- 
sion. He was a favorite of Bishop Asbury, who, in the 
year 1800, appointed him to Charleston. The first re- 
port of the Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church says : "By a letter lately received from the 
Rev. Stith Alead, an old veteran of the cross, we learn 
that the Bev. George Dougharty, stationed preacher at 
Charleston, S. C, was severely beaten on the head with a 

* ' ; Life of Ware,"' pp. 133, 1S4. 

■J- The Rev. Dr. Lovick Peirce in Sprague's "Annals." 

X The Rev. J. O. Andrew. 



American Methodism. 



1S1 



club, and subsequently had water pumped on him from 
a public cistern, for the crime of conducting a Sabbath- 
school for the benefit of African children." * Stith Mead 
wrote to the editors of the " Christian Advocate and 
Journal" from Lynchburg, Virginia, September 12, 1828, 
as follows : " Having discovered in your publications a 
notice of some information I have communicated to you 
on the subject of Sunday-schools, I now transmit for your 
perusal a copy of a letter from the Rev. George Dough- 
arty to Bishops Asbury, Coke, and Whatcoat, which will 
serve to confirm what has been published of the origin 
of Sunday-schools through the instrumentality of the 
Wesleyan Methodists in America." 

The letter of Dougharty, of which Mr. Mead here 
speaks, is dated Charleston, May 25, 1801, and is as 
follows: "My black school has increased to upwards 
of forty, several of whom have discovered an excellent 
capacity in learning, but you will readily believe that this 
has no tendency to remove the reproach of the cross. The 
epithet of negro school-master*, added to that of Methodist 
preacher, makes a black compound, sure enough. Yet, 
wonderful to think ! the congregations are as large and as 
serious as they were at any time since I came to Charles- 
ton. The number of blacks that attend on the Sabbath is 
truly pleasing, yet, alas ! I cannot say there is any revival. 
But I humbly hope the storms in Charleston have taught 
me some useful lessons. Outward persecutions seem to 
abate, and I am again cheered with the sight of some 
black faces in the galleries at night." 

Mr. Mead is good authority concerning Mr. Dougharty, 
for they were associated as members of the same Confer- 
ence at the time of or very soon after Dougharty's perse- 
cution. From the account *of the mob and its victim, 
given by the Rev. F. A. Mood, in his volume on " Meth- 
odism in Charleston," it would appear that the atrocious 

*" Methodist Magazine," 132S, pp. 330, 351. 



182 



Centennial Histoky of 



affair at the pump occurred in the winter of 1800-1, about 
sixteen years after the organization of American Method- 
ism into a Church, and before Doughartv wrote the above 
letter which has an allusion to the persecution. 

In regard to that painful event the Rev. Xicholas Sne- 
then. in a biographical sketch of Mr. Doughartv, which was 
published in 1823, says : " I well remember the morning, 
twenty-three years ago,* and the conversation, when Mr. 
Asburv was about to leave Charleston, and Mr. Doughartv 
in charge of the society. In allusion to the lar^e num- 
ber of colored members, 1 I leave you,' said he, ' a flower 
garden and a kitchen garden to cultivate ; ' and, following 
out the simile, he pointed to him the importance of at- 
tention to the blacks. The greater pleasure would be de- 
rived from an attention to the masters — the greater advan- 
tage from attention to the slaves. Mr. Doughartv was not 
satisfied with laboring for the adult slaves only ; he estab- 
lished a school for the black children. In a letter to Mr. 
Asbury he observes : ' I do not only suffer the reproach 
common to Methodist preachers, but I have rendered my- 
self still more vile [odious] as the negro school-master.' 
His success was too great to be endured by the jealous 
authorities. The alarm was spread among the populace. 
But, as the school-master would take no hint to abandon his 
sable pupils, the mob assembled in great numbers, on a 
Sunday evening, in Cumberland Street before the church. 
The preacher was forcibly hurried from the pulpit into 
the midst of the mob. who seem not to have made their 
arrangement how to dispose of their victim. A pause en- 
sued, and while several proposals were making, a voice was 
heard above the rest. 'To thepwm/p! ' i To the pump !' was 
now the general cry. The pump stood in Church Street, near 
the corner of Cumberland Street, not many yards distant 
from the church. Mr. Doughartv was hurried on toward 
it by the multitude, and thrown down so as to receive its 

*3Ir. Snethen at that time was the companion of Bishop Asbury. 



American Methodism. 



183 



whole contents, until the frenzy of the mob began to abate. 
He was then suffered to return to his lodgings, I believe 
unruffled with any unholy emotion of heart. He used to 
relate the event with the utmost composure." 

With respect to the mob Mood, in his " Methodism in 
Charleston," says : " He was seized by the mob, and though 
winter time and he a man of feeble health, they thrust 
him under a spout near the church, and pumped him al- 
most to drowning. In the midst of their work of cruelty, 
while some of the members in affright had fled, and others 
stood by unable to give assistance, a Mrs. Kugley rushed 
into their midst, and tearing off her apron, pushed it into 
the pump spout, and commanded them to desist. At the 
same time, a gentleman forcing his way into their midst, 
sword in hand, threatened death to any one who should 
touch Mr. Dougharty's person. The crowd of bullies in- 
stantly made a precipitate retreat." 

Mr. Snethen further says of the persecuted minister : 
" No man was better entitled to the name of good-natured 
than George Dougharty. Though he was never still, he 
was always complaisant. This enviable constitutional tem- 
perament, so rarely to be found, conciliated to him the 
esteem of all, and enabled him with great facility to tri- 
umph over the madness of the people. None but a mob 
would have had the resolution to lay hands upon him, and 
even their hearts seem to have misgave them."" 

The Rev. J. O. Andrew, subsequently bishop, in writ- 
ing, in 1830, of this cruelty to Mr. Dougharty says : " Of 
all the principal leaders in this outrageous proceeding, not 

* Fairness requires that I should state that the Rev. J. 0. Andrew, and 
also Mood, claim that the pumping of Dougharty was occasioned by the fact 
that it became known that a package of abolition documents had been 
sent to the Rev. John Harper, a Methodist preacher in Charleston at the 
time, who in the presence of a witness consigned them to the fire. Dough- 
arty being at the church that night ihe mob, they say, took Mm. The Rev. 
Stith Mead and the Rev. Xicholas Snethen, both contemporaries and per- 
sonal friends of Dougharty, are good authorities. 



184 



Centennial History of 



one prospered afterward. Most of them died miserable 
deaths in a short time. One of them lived some time only 
to feel and acknowledge that the curse of God was on him 
for his conduct to that good man." 

It is said that the effect of Mr. Dougharty's drenching was 
to develop pulmonary disease which finally terminated his 
life. He devoted his failing strength to his Master's work. 
Shortly before his death this Sunday-school martyr attended 
a camp-meeting, though not able to preach. " On the Sab- 
bath of the meeting, after another had preached, he arose 
and propped himself against the book-stand, and leaning 
forward, said : 4 Brethren, this is the last time you will ever 
recognize my presence among you ; but next year when 
you have a camp-meeting here I will ask my heavenly 
Father to permit my mingling with you around that altar ; 
and, although in person you will not see me, I expect to 
be with you in spirit, rejoicing and praising God.' The 
effect on the congregation was awfully sublime and glori- 
ous. For some minutes a death-like silence of weeping 
prevailed ; but soon a iond burst of ' Glory ! glory to God ! ' 
resounded through the congregation. From this camp- 
meeting he went on to Wilmington, and in a few weeks he 
there expired, shouting, with his gasping breath, £ Glory! 
glory ! ' " * Thus he ascended to heaven, March 23, 1807. 

The evidence that American Methodism was very early 
in the field of Sunday-school labor is decisive. Indeed 
it seems clear, beyond dispute, that Methodism inaugurated 
the Sunday-school movement in the United States. 

A Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church was organized April 2, 1827, and the ensuing Gen- 
eral Conference accepted it. The first report of the Union, 
in 1828, showed that there were then in the Methodist 
Episcopal Church one thousand and twenty-four Sunday- 
schools, having ten thousand two hundred and ninety 
teachers, and sixty-three thousand two hundred and forty 

* "Autcbiographv of the Rev. Joseph. Travis, A.M." 



American Methodism. 



185 



scholars.* It also showed that provision had been made 
for a Sunday-school literature, which, in the later develop- 
ment of the institution, has become so immense. 

The great American Bishop on horseback, Asbury, was 
ever awake to see and prompt to seize methods which 
promised to promote the edification of the Church of which 
he was the overseer. In the Sunday-school he discerned 
that potency which many were not so quick to discover, 
and which, since his day, has been so wondrously revealed. 
He accepted it, and his Church, which he led in every de- 
partment of evangelical labor, employed it. Thus the 
Sunday-school in America has grown with the growth and 
strengthened with the strength of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

* It docs not follow that these were all the schools and scholars in the 
Church at that time. The numbers given were those then known to the 
Sunday-School Union. 



186 



Centennial Histoey of 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE NEW CHURCH AND EDUCATION". 

EDUCATION was one of the subjects which engaged 
the attention of the Christmas Conference. A prop- 
osition to establish a college at Abingdon, Maryland, 
was favorably considered. Before the Conference assem- 
bled the project was canvassed by Coke and Asbury, who 
were convinced of its importance. They saw that to 
insure the rapid and permanent progress of religion, it 
must be allied with intelligence. Religion, without 
culture, is liable to fall into the embrace of superstition, 
while culture acquired in schools that are wholly secular 
is likely to become the foe of Christianity. Therefore 
means were promptly adopted to found a school in which 
the youth of Methodism could be educated under the eye 
and hand of the Church. Prior to the Christmas Confer- 
ence the two Superintendents appointed by Mr. Wesley 
solicited subscriptions for a college. Mr. Asbury's design 
was to found a school, but Dr. Coke advocated a more im- 
posing scheme. In 1780 a plan for a school was formed, 
for which John Dickins drew up a subscription. It was 
developed at the instance of Dr. Coke into Cokesbury 
College. Asbury's view was, no doubt, more judicious, but 
Coke's wish prevailed, Mr. Asbury deferred to Dr. Coke 
probably because of his knowledge of scholastic affairs. 
So ten days before the Conference Coke wrote in his 
Journal : " We crossed the bay, and at the other side were 
met by Mr. Dallam. I have prevailed upon him to give 
in land £250 currency toward the college, (for that is 
to be its name.) Mr. Asbury met me this side of the 
bay. Between us, we have got £1,000 sterling subscribed 



American Methodism. 



187 



toward the college." Before the Superintendents left the 
seat of the Christmas Conference, they prepared a pro- 
spectus of the proposed college, to which they appended 
the statement that they had " already been favored with 
subscriptions amounting to £1,057 17s. sterling. 1 ' The 
prospectus was as follows : 

11 A plan for erecting a college, intended to advance religion in America, 
to be presented to the principal members and friends of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church: 

" The college is to be built at Abingdon, in Maryland, ■ 
on a healthy spot, enjoying a line air and very extensive 
prospect. It is to receive for education and board the 
sons of the elders and preachers of the Methodist Church, 
poor orphans, and the sons of the subscribers and of other 
friends. It will be expected that all our friends who 
send their children to the college, will, if they be able, 
pay a moderate sum for their education and board ; the 
rest will be taught and boarded, and, if our finances will 
allow of it, clothed, gratis. The institution is also intended 
for the benefit of our young men who are called to preach, 
that they may receive a measure of that improvement 
which is highly expedient as a preparative for public 
service. A teacher of the languages, with an usher, will 
be provided, as also an English master to teach with the 
utmost propriety both to read and speak the English 
language; nor shall any other branch of literature be 
omitted which may be thought necessary for any of 
the students. Above all, special care shall be taken that 
due attention be paid to the religion and morals of the 
children ; and to the exclusion of all such as continue of 
an ungovernable temper. The college shall be under the 
presidentship of the Superintendents of our Church for 
the time being ; and it is to be supported by yearly col- 
lections, throughout our circuits, and any endowments 
which our friends may think proper to give and bequeath, 



188 



Centennial History of 



consistently with the laws of the respective States in 
which they are made. The buildings, if it please God, 
will be begun in next June, and the subscribers are desired 
to send in their subscriptions, as far as it is convenient, to 
any of our ministers or preachers in the intermediate 
space; but wherever it is inconvenient we will most 
cheerfully wait the subscriber's time. 

" Three objects of considerable magnitude we have in 
view in the erection of this college. 

" The first is a provision for the sons of our married 
ministers and preachers. 

" The wisdom and love of God have now thrust out a 
large number of laborers into his harvest ; men who de- 
sire nothing on earth but to promote the glory of God by 
saving their own souls and those that hear them. And 
those to whom they minister spiritual things are willing to 
minister to them of their carnal things ; so that they 
have food to eat and raiment to put on, and are content 
therewith. 

" A competent provision is likewise made for the wives 
of married preachers, and an allowance over and above 
for their little children. 

" Yet one considerable difficulty lies on those that have 
boys, when they are grown too big to be under their 
mother's direction. Having no father to govern and in- 
struct them, they are exposed to a thousand temptations. 
To remedy this is one motive that induces us to lay before 
our friends the present plan ; that these little ones may 
have all the instruction they are capable of, together with 
all things necessary for the body. 

" In this view, our college will become one of the no- 
blest charities that can be conceived. How reasonable is 
the institution ? Is it fit that the children of those who 
leave wife and all that is dear to save souls from death 
should want what is needful either for the soul or body ? 
Ought we not to supply what the parent cannot, because 



American Methodism. 



189 



of his labors in the Gospel ? How excellent would be the 
effect of this institution ? The preacher, eased of this 
weight, can the more cheerfully go on in his labor, and 
perhaps many of these children may hereafter fill up the 
place of those that shall rest from their labors. 

" The second object we have in view is the education 
and support of poor orphans, and surely we need not enu- 
merate the many happy consequences arising from such a 
charity. Innumerable blessings center in it. Not only 
the immediate relief of the objects of our charity, but the 
ability given them, under the providence of God, to pro- 
vide for themselves through the remainder of their lives. 

" The last, though, perhaps, not the least, object in view 
is the establishment of a seminary for the children of our 
competent friends, where learning and religion may go 
hand in hand ; where every advantage may be obtained 
which may promote the prosperity of the present life, 
without endangering the morals and religion of the chil- 
dren through those temptations to which they are too 
much exposed in most of the public schools. This is an 
object of importance indeed, and here all the tenderest 
feelings of the parent's heart range on our side. 

"But the expense of such an undertaking will be very 
large, and the best means we could think of at our late 
Conference to accomplish our design was, to desire the 
assistance of all those in every place who wisli well to the 
work of God ; who long to see sinners converted to God, 
and the Kingdom of Christ set up in all the earth. 

" All who are thus minded, and more especially our own 
friends who form our congregations, have an opportunity 
now of showing their love to the Gospel. Now promote, 
as far as in you lies, one of the noblest charities in the 
world. Now forward, as you are able, one of the most 
excellent designs that ever was set on foot in this country. 
Do what you can to comfort the parents who give up their 
all for you, and to give their children cause to bless you. 



190 



Centennial History of 



You will be no poorer for what yon do on such an occa- 
sion. God is a good paymaster. And you know in do- 
ing this you lend unto the Lord ; in due time he shall re- 



Two days after the Conference rose Dr. Coke was in 
Abingdon. He there ordered the materials for the structure. 
On the 30th of May, 1785, but a short time before he re- 
turned to England, he and Asbury were again at Abingdon. 
It appears that the ground which, according to Dr. Coke, 
Mr. Dallam had promised to donate for the college, was in 
another place, or he had canceled his promise, or some other 
fact about which there is no information was involved in 
the transaction ; for Coke records that they u agreed to 
give Mr. Dallam £60 sterling for four acres of ground, 
which we had fixed upon as the site of our college, and 
had proper bonds drawn up." 

Almost three quarters of a century subsequently a living 
authority, namely, David Creamer, Esq., of Baltimore, 
visited the spot. He says, " The village of Abingdon 
contains a population of three or four hundred inhab- 
itants, is situated in Harford County, Maryland, just 
twenty-two miles north-east of Baltimore, and about four- 
teen miles east of Bellair, the county town. The old 
Philadelphia turn-pike road passes through the village. 
The location is high and healthful, and from the loftiest 
point, on which stood the " stately edifice " of Cokesbury 
College, embraces views of Bush Biver, which, we think, 
Dr. Coke mistook for the Susquehanna or Chesapeake 
Bay. We, however, are not sure of this, and will insert 
the doctor's enraptured description. He says : £ The sit- 
uation delights me more than ever. There is not, I be- 
lieve, a point of it, from whence the eye has not a view of 
at least twenty miles ; and in some parts the prospect ex- 
tends to even fifty miles. The water forms one of the 



pay you. 

Baltimore, January 3, 1785. 



Thomas Coke, 
Feaxcis Asbury. 



American Methodism. 



191 



most beautiful views in the United States ; the Chesapeake 
Bay, in all its grandeur, with a fine, navigable river, the 
Susquehanna, which empties itself into it, lying exposed 
to view through a great extent of country.' 

" It seems a pity even to imagine a defect in the doctor's 
picture, which, perhaps, was sketched from the cupola of 
the college ; but truth compels us to say, that, standing 
on the college site, we were unable, with the naked eye, to 
discover either the Susquehanna or Chesapeake. Though 
the Susquehanna is, indeed, a ' fine river,' it is navigable 
only five or six miles above its mouth. If the doctor 
really could discern both the bay and river, as he states, it 
must have been at their junction, where the river is navi- 
gable."* 

The foundation of the edifice was laid in 1785, and it 
had progressed so far as to be " fit for covering " in 
May, 1786. In August of that year Mr. Asbury was at 
Abingdon, and speaks of the college as " without a 
cover." Four months later he was again there, accom- 
panied by Dr. Coke, at which time he states that upward 
of two thousand pounds had been expended upon the enter- 
prise. It was then decided to finish two rooms and pro- 
cure a president. It appears probable that students were 
examined for admission in September, 1787, for in that 
month Asbury says he " hasted to Cokesbury, it being the 
examination." On the 6th of December, 1787, the college 
was formally opened, and twenty-five students were admit- 
ted. On that day, which was Thursday, Asbury preached 
on " Trust in the Lord and do good." On the Sabbath he 
again preached, on the text: "O man of God, there is 
death in the pot." On Monday he gave another sermon, 
from " They are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and 
their offspring with them." The building was not then 
completed. 

* " Last Brick from Cokesbury College," by David Creamer, in " The 
Methodist," Sept. 21, 1861. 



192 



Centennial History of 



The name given to the college was Cokesbury, which 
was derived from the names of the two Superintendents. 
The institution was an experiment. The American Meth- 
odists were without experience in managing schools, and the 
beginnings of Cokesbury were unfortunate. There was 
some difficulty in its management the first year, for in Au- 
gust, 1788, Mr. Asbury heard that both of the teachers had 
gone, "one for incompetency, and the other to pursue riches 
and honors." A result, however, which has ever followed 
the educational labors of Methodism, was soon visible ; 
for in May, 1789, Asbury records that " God was working 
among the students." 

The two Superintendents visited the college in May, 
1789. Dr. Coke describes its internal status. He says: 
"I had several long conversations with Dr. Hall, our 
president, and am satisfied beyond a doubt that he is 
the scholar, the philosopher, and the gentleman. He 
truly fears God, and pays a most exact and delicate at- 
tention to all the rules of the institution. Our classic 
tutor is a very promising person. He is not the polished 
scholar, like the president, but his manifest strength of 
understanding and persevering diligence will soon, I doubt 
not, perfect every thing that is wanting. And our English 
and mathematical master gives us considerable satisfaction. 

"On Saturday morning I examined all the classes in 
private ; and in the afternoon we had a public exhibition 
of the different abilities and improvement of our young 
students^ Two young men displayed great strength of 
memory, and great propriety of pronunciation, in the repe- 
tition of two chapters of Sheridan on Elocution, and were 
rewarded by Mr. Asbury, as a small testimony of our ap- 
probation, with a dollar a piece. One little boy, a son of 
Mr. Dallam's, a neighboring gentleman, delivered memor- 
iter a fine speech out of Livy, with such a heroic spirit 
and with such great propriety, that I presented him with 
a little piece of gold. Three other boys, also, so excelled 



American Methodism. 



193 



in gardening, that Mr. Asbury rewarded them with a 
dollar each. But, what is best of all, many of them are 
truly awakened. However, we were oblighed to under- 
take the painful task, in the presence of the trustees, 
masters, and students, of solemnly expelling a young lad of 
fifteen years of age, to whose learning we had no objec- 
tion, but whose trifling, irreligious conduct and open rid- 
icule among the students of experimental religion we 
could not pass over, as we are determined to have a col- 
lege in which religion and learning shall go hand in hand 
together, or to have none at all. But nothing relating to 
this institution, perhaps, has given me greater pleasure than 
to find we are already enabled to support four students 
fully and two in part (preachers' sons and orphans) on the 
charitable foundation." * 

An account of the financial condition of the enter- 
prise, and a description of the building, was published in 
the latter part of the year 1789 as follows: "Not doubt- 
ing but it will afford great satisfaction to the subscribers 
and friends of Cokesbury College to have some particular 
account of its present condition, we have, therefore, sub- 
joined a brief relation of its state in the month of Sep- 
tember, 1789. The accounts which have been brought 
against it are as follows : 

For building £3,857 4£ 

For tuition 412 10 7 

For furniture aud housekeeping 217 18 8 

Total £4,4S7 9 7£ 

" Out of which the following sums have been paid : 

For building £2,263 11 4| 

For tuition 369 19 2 

For furniture and housekeeping 217 17 8 

Total £2,851 8 2| 

The debt, which is still due, is 1,636 1 5 

Total _ £4,4S7 9 7£ 

♦Journals of Dr. Coke's ; 'Five Visits to America," pp. Ill, 112. 
9 



194 



Centennial Histoey of 



" This college is one hundred and eight feet in length 
from east to west, and forty feet in breadth from north to 
south, and stands on the summit and center of six acres of 
land, with an equal descent and proportion of ground on 
each side. The whole building is well painted on the out- 
side, and the windows completely glazed. The house is di- 
vided into rooms as follows : At the west end are two rooms 
on the lower floor, each twemVy-flve feet by twenty. The 
second and third stories the same. At the east end are two 
rooms, each twenty-five feet by twenty. The second and 
third stories the same. In the middle of the lower floor is 
the college hall, forty feet square, and over that on the second 
floor two school-rooms, and on the third floor two bed- 
chambers. At the ends of the hall are spaces for four sets 
of staircases, two at the north end, and two at the south 
end, with proper doors opening on the staircases. The car- 
penter's work on the first and second floors with one staircase 
is almost completed. The plastering and painting of four 
rooms at the west end are nearly finished. The school- 
rooms are also chiefly done, and one room at the east end 
partly plastered. 

" There are ten boys who are wholly or partially upon 
charity, several of whom are maintained, clothed, and edu- 
cated gratis. There are also twenty independent scholars." 

It thus appears that in September, 1789, there were 
thirty students in the college, a third of whom were 
charity scholars. One student at least had already gone 
forth into the itinerancy, whose name became celebrated 
and historic in the Church. Yalentine Cook, who laid 
the foundation of his scholarship at Cokesbury, shone as a 
bright, particular star in the splendid galaxy of mighty 
preachers that so quickly rose in the firmament of the 
young Church. Mr. Cook, it is true, was not a scholar in 
the sense that Wesley was a scholar, but, as " compared 
with forty-nine fiftieths of the then traveling and local 
ministers in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he was very 



Americas - Methodism. 



195 



justly regarded as a man of learning." The Eev. Thomas 
Scott formed Cook's acquaintance in the autumn of 1789, 
and he says that at that time Mr. Cook " possessed a 
thorough knowledge of the English language, and had 
made some proficiency in the German, as well as in the 
Latin and Greek languages. Portions of each successive 
day were, so far as practicable, devoted to the study of 
the German and Greek, and toward the close of that 
Conference year he informed me that he had made such 
progress in the German as to be able to preach in it." 
Cook's extraordinary preaching and its effects are historic. 

It is probable that the above statement of the affairs 
of Cokesbury College, which was printed in the American 
" Arminian Magazine," was written by Bishop Asbury, as 
about the time it was prepared, September, 1789, he visited 
the institution. In connection with this visit he records 
the happy death of a pious student. " He praised God 
to the last," says Asbury. His death produced a solemn 
impression upon his fellow-students. 

In December, 1790, the number of students had in- 
creased to forty-five, all of whom were boys. The sub- 
scriptions for the institution had then reached the sum of 
three hundred pounds per annum. The school soon became 
involved in financial complications, which put to a severe 
test the skill and patience of Asbury. In May, 1786, he 
says : " We are already in debt nearly £900, and money 
is scarce." In September, 17S8, he devoted three days to 
an examination and adjustment of the affairs of the 
institution. In May, 1791, he was confronted with 
further problems of finance, for he says : " I found there 
was a vast demand for money for the establishment, there 
having been an expenditure of £700 in five months." In 
October, 1794, Bishop Asbury held the New York Confer- 
ence, and says : "At this Conference it was resolved that 
nothing but an English free day-school should be kept 
at Cokesbury." In November, 1791, he says : " Our col- 



19G 



Centennial History of 



legiate matters now come to a crisis. We now make a 
sudden and dead pause. We mean to incorporate and 
breathe, and take some better plan. If we cannot have 
a Christian school, (that is, a school under Christian dis- 
cipline and pious teachers,) we will have none." This 
language suggests that the religious tone of the school was 
impaired ; a result, perhaps, of the difficulty of securing 
teachers who were both competent and holy. The Rev. 
William Colbert records that the 29th of November, 1791, 
he spent at Abingdon, and says : " In the afternoon, there 
was a public exhibition in the College Hall. Part of it I 
liked much ; and part, I think, was too theatrical to be 
allowed in the college of a people that make so high a 
profession of religion as the Methodists do." 

In October, 1795, but a few weeks before its destruction, 
an inventory of the assets of the college was taken, the 
total amount of which was " seven thousand one hundred 
and four pounds twelve shillings and ninepence." * 

Asbury not only bore the chief financial burden of the 
enterprise, but he also was responsible for its internal man- 
agement. The price of board ; the teachers, their selec- 
tion, work, and compensation ; the students, their physical, 
moral, and religious welfare, as well as their intellectual 
improvement, all were a constant and weighty care to the 
overburdened Superintendent. Asbury wrote his parents : 
" I have had the burden of a school, hastily called a college 
by Dr. Coke. I gave that up into the hands of trustees 
made by law." He watched for promising youth whom 
he might send to the college. For example, he writes in 
Virginia, the 11th of December, 1790, thus : " Finding 
Tommy (a son of Mr. W7s) had genius, I gave him a pass 
to Cokesbury." Not far from this time he wrote to Mr. 
Morrell : " Our school is in good order. I expect to place 
thirteen boys on the charity of the college." The expense 
attending the maintenance of charity scholars involved 

* Asbury 's "Journal," vol. ii, p. 280. 



American Methodism. 



197 



Bishop Asbury and the institution in additional straits. In 
January, 1791, Asbury wrote to Morrell : " Our family is 
very large at college ; if you can lift a few dollar subscrip- 
tions it will be acceptable." In the same year he says that 
in Baltimore he " went from house to house through the 
snow and cold begging money for the support of the poor 
orphans at Cokesbury." 

There were, however, compensations for all the labor 
and sacrifice, as a record in the Journal of Asbury shows : 
" I lodged," he says, " with Abel Bliss, whose son was ed- 
ucated, and not spoiled, at Cokesbury." The influence of 
the institution was felt by the denomination. It demon- 
strated the fact that American Methodism was not only in 
sympathy with education, but ready also to undergo labors 
and sacrifices to promote it. The Methodist Episcopal 
Church is forever richer from the intellectual impulse it 
received from Cokesbury College. Its very ruins are 
monumental of the far-sighted wisdom of the fathers 
of the Church in joining the work of education with 
their absorbing evangelical labors. Had it not burned, 
Cokesbury would, perhaps, with the rapid progress of 
the denomination, have developed into a commanding 
institution ; but on the 7th of December, 1795, accord- 
ing to Asbury, it was consumed. The Rev. William Col- 
bert, however, records in his journal that on Saturday, 
December 5, 1795, he rode to Baltimore, "where," he 
says, " I heard of the conflagration of Cokesbury College." 
The next day he wrote : " Sunday, 6. Rode from Balti- 
more to Fork Chapel and preached from 1 John xi, 5, to a 
small congregation, and rode to Abingdon where I saw the 
ruins of Cokesbury College." * When, in Charleston, 
Asbury learned positively of the catastrophe he wrote: 
"Would any man give me £10,000 per year to do and 

* Colbert's Journal in manuscript. Colbert does not give the precise 
date of the lire, but merely the dates on which he heard of the disaster and 
viewed the ruins of the edifice. 



19S 



Centennial History of 



suffer again what I have done for that house, I would not 
do it." Subsequently he said : " As to the college, it was 
all pain and no profit to me, but some expense and great 
labor." * 

On receiving the account of the calamity, Dr. Coke wrote : 
" Not only the building, but the library and all the philo- 
sophical apparatus were entirely destroyed ; and, what is the 
most trying consideration, I doubt not it was done on 
purpose. The governor of the State advertised one thou- 
sand dollars reward for the discovery of the person or 
pei sons who perpetrated the deed, but all in vain. The 
gentry, for many miles round, also lamented the loss, not 
only from more liberal motives, but on account also of 
the instruction and entertainment they had received, in 
being admitted with tickets to the philosophical lectures of 
Dr. Hall, the president." Though incendiarism was sus- 
pected, a competent authority, the Rev. Nicholas- Snethen, 
states that the cause of the fire " was never known." 

Asbury now expressed the belief that God had not called 
the Methodists to the work of collegiate education. The 
Church in Baltimore, however, was still zealous for the en- 
terprise. The material structure was in ashes, but the spirit 
which gave it existence survived. " Seventeen of our prin- 
cipal friends in the Baltimore society," says Dr. Coke, 
" met together, and, thinking that the honor and credit of 
the Connection demanded exertion to supply the place of 
Cokesbury, they immediately subscribed .£1,700 currency 
(£1,020 sterling) toward the erecting of a new college. 
They then applied to the proprietor of a large building in 
Baltimore, which had been erected for balls, concerts, card 
parties, etc., for the use of the city, (for Baltimore has 
been lately constituted a city,) in order to purchase it. 
This building, which was then vacant, and, I think, the 
handsomest in the city, they purchased for £5,300. The 
society at large subscribed £700, and the inhabitants 

* Letter to the Rev. John Dickins. 



American Methodism. 



199 



of the city, upon an application from house to house, 
£600 ; and the above mentioned seventeen went security 
for the remaining £2,300. The college or academy was 
accordingly fitted up, masters were appointed, and the 
whole city seemed to take pleasure in sending their young 
people to this seminary, which soon nourished beyond 
what Cokesbury had ever done."* 

The school in Baltimore was quickly in vigorous and 
successful operation. A little more than seven months 
after the conflagration at Abingdon, Bishop Asbury found 
"the academy crowded," having "five teachers and nearly 
two hundred scholars." The literary spirit of the new 
Church received inspiration from its baptism of fire. The 
school was borne on wings of flame from a small hamlet 
to the metropolitan city of the denomination. Its future 
permanence and prosperity seemed well assured ; but, 
alas ! in but little more than a year after the catastrophe 
at Abingdon the academy in Baltimore was consumed. 
Two such disasters, and in such quick succession, crushed, 
for the time, the educational enterprise of the Church. 

With reference to these fiery calamities Dr. Coke said : 
" Brother Asbury and I were now clearly of opinion that 
the will of God was evidently manifested, and that the 
Methodists ought not to enter into such expensive popular 
undertakings, but bend their whole force to the salvation 
of souls." AV r hen Cokesbury was destroyed Asbury said : 
" The Lord called not Mr. Whitefield nor the Methodists 
to build colleges. I wished only for schools ; Dr. Coke 
wanted a college." It is not strange that after so great 
a bestowment of effort and money, which seemed to attract 
the flames, the young Church should have felt itself 
baffled in the attempt to establish and conduct institutions 
of learning. 

It was easy, in the light of the conflagration, to say 
what might have been ; and even to deplore the enthu- 

* Coke's Journal in " Arminian Magazine," (London,) 1798, p. 369. 



200 



Centennial IIistoky of 



siastic zeal which brought Cokesbury into existence. 
Dr. Coke, after the school in Baltimore was burned, 
exclaimed, " O that all this money had been laid out for 
a married ministry ! " But would it have been so laid out ? 
It is, indeed, doubtful whether the money given for the 
schools in the twelve eventful years immediately following 
the Church's organization would have been contributed 
for any other object of benevolence. It is quite certain 
that the work accomplished for the intellectual growth of 
the denomination, was of far greater value than all the money 
expended. The memory of those years of heroic toil and 
sacrifice to promote Christian learning, though they ended 
in fiery disaster, is a precious possession of the Church. 
Seed moistened with tears was then sown from which, in 
subsequent years, rich harvests bent to the sickle. In the 
service of education the fathers of American Methodism 
made a brave record which their children now contemplate 
with complacency and gratitude. 

The pecuniary loss resulting from the two conflagrations 
was very large for so young a Church to suffer. A Meth- 
odist house of worship was also consumed by the fire which 
destroyed the academy in Baltimore. Dr. Coke placed 
the loss from both fires at ten thousand pounds sterling. 
Bishop Asbury, whose familiarity with the subject gave 
him the basis for an accurate judgment, estimated it at 
" from fifteen to twenty thousand pounds." The disheart- 
ening effect of such disasters, no doubt, rendered an 
immediate attempt to repair the ruin impracticable ; but 
the ashes of the schools were alive with the faith and 
energy of heroes, from which was destined to spring forth, 
phoenix-like, a successful movement to establish the agen- 
cies of education in the Church. 

Cokesbury and its successor at Baltimore were not the 
only schools which the infant Church established. We 
have seen how, in the face of peril, the missionaries 
of the new denomination early entered Kentucky. In 



Ajieeicax Methodism. 



201 



the month of May, 1700, Bishop Asbury presided over 
the first Conference held in that territory. In the midst 
of the hardships, privations, and poverty of a frontier 
country, that Conference resolved to build an institution 
of learning. Asbury says : " TVe fixed a plan for a school, 
and called it Bethel; and obtained a subscription of up- 
ward of three hundred pounds in land and money toward 
its establishment." He afterward says: "Brother Lewis 
offered me one hundred acres of land for Bethel, on a 
good spot for building materials." 

The history of this educational enterprise is as melan- 
choly as it is interesting. Francis Poythress, an influential 
leader of the early itinerancy, was appointed, in 1TS8, to 
preside over a district in Kentucky. Chiefly by his in- 
fluence and efforts Bethel Academy was founded. It was 
erected upon a bluff in Jessamine County, on the Kentucky 
River. The progress of the work was not rapid, and the 
school did not open until some years after its inception. 
Its erection cost a severe straggle. The sparseness of 
the population and the depredations of the Indians were 
formidable obstacles to the undertaking. The preach- 
ers earnestly solicited funds for the school, and thereby 
diminished their own scant receipts. The people were 
liberal, but their resources were small. The Legislature 
appropriated six thousand acres of ground to the insti- 
tution, which gift seems to have proved rather a hinder- 
ance than a help. 

The exact time that Bethel school was opened is not 
clear. It was in operation, however, as early as April, 
1796, for at that time the Rev. Henry Smith was there at 
Conference, and he says the school was then taught by 
John Metcalf, a local preacher. Mr. Metcalf had pre- 
viously been a traveling preacher. In the spring of 1792 
Bishop Asbury was at Bethel, and remarked in his Journal, 
that he had found it necessary " to change the plan of the 

house to make it more comfortable in cold weather." A 
9* 



202 



Centennial History of 



year later he was there again, when trustees were appointed 
and sundry regulations were made for the school. When 
nearly two years had passsd Asbury was again there, 
and says : " We had work enough to write subscription 
papers, to be sent abroad for the purpose of collecting one 
hundred pounds to finish Bethel school, and secure the 
land ; but my expectations are small — the people have 
so little sense of God and religion. Saturday, I opened 
the new house on 1 Thess. v, 14 ; and on Sunday we had 
a sermon and love-feast." This was in March, 1795, al- 
most five years after the Conference resolved irpon the 
enterprise.* 

The next mention Asbury makes of the academy is on 
the 30th of April, 1796, when he says : u We had a meeting 
of the Board of Trustees of Bethel school, and it was agreed 
it should be a free school, and that only the English tongue 
and the sciences should be taught. I drew up an address 
on behalf of the school in order to raise three hundred 
dollars per annum to support a president teacher." 

The building, though not as large as Cokesbury, was of 
considerable dimensions. Its length was eighty feet, and 
its width thirty feet. It was " three stories with a high 
roof, and finished below," — a u Cokesbury in miniature." 
Thus Bishop Asbury described it in the autumn of 1800. 

Valentine Cook, who, as we have seen, was a student in 
Cokesbury, was placed in charge of Bethel school at a date 
not far from 1800. Dr. Bedford, in his " History of Meth- 
odism in Kentucky," erroneously states that Metcalf suc- 
ceeded Cook in the presidency of Bethel. It is said that 
Cook organized the academy, which is also an error, if it 
be meant that he was its first president. We have, how- 

*As Asbury states that he opened the new house with a sermon in 
March, 1195, and as Smith records that in April, 1796, the school was in 
progress, it appears probable that the opening of the house in March, 1795, 
by Asbury, was nearly or quite simultaneous with the inauguration of the 
school. 



American Methodism. 



203 



ever, in Cook, the coincidence of a student in the first 
school originated by the Church becoming the chief teach- 
er of the second school which it founded. Tims it appears 
that Cokesbury gave not only a powerful preacher but also 
an educator to the Church. 

Bethel did not become a prey to the flames, yet it encoun- 
tered fiery trials — trials too great, indeed, for its endurance. 
Cokesbury and Bethel were, it seems, unfortunate in their 
location. Referring to the latter, Bishop Asbury said : 
" It is too distant from public places ; its being surrounded 
by the river Kentucky in part, we now find to be no 
benefit. Thus all our excellences are turned into defects. 
Perhaps Brother Poythress and myself were as much over- 
seen with this place, as Dr. Coke was with the seat of 
Cokesbury. But all is right that works right, and all is 
wrong that works wrong, and we must be blamed by men 
of slender sense for consequences impossible to foresee, 
for other people's misconduct." 

Bethel Academy became involved in complications 
which hindered its prosperity. Some of its patrons died, 
and others failed in responding to its needs. Mr. Poythress 
labored earnestly to establish it, and received censure on 
account of its pecuniary cost and its ineligible situation. 
Of upright character and a sensitive nature, he keenly 
felt the criticisms that were passed upon his administration 
of the enterprise. Whether insanity would have smitten 
him had he not been censured is not known. He, how- 
ever, sank under hopeless mental aberration. " The get- 
ting up an institution of the kind was perhaps prema- 
ture," says the Rev. Henry Smith. He adds : " It cer- 
tainly was badly located as it turned out, and perhaps not 
well managed." Smith expresses his entire confidence in 
Poythress. * 

With all his scholarship, mental acumen, and popularity as 
a preacher, Valentine Cook did not overcome the infiu- 

* a Christian Advocate and Journal," December 1, 1841. 



Centennial History of 



ences that liindered the progress of tlie school. He re- 
mained but a few years at the head of it, and subsequently 
presided over a school at Harrodsburg. in Kentucky. After 
an unequal struggle with adverse fortune Bethel yielded 
to its fate, and was known only as a thing of the past. 

In the Journal of the Rev. John Andrew, father of 
Bishop Andrew, is this record of a Conference in Geor- 
gia, at which Bishop Asbury presided, in 1790 : " Satur- 
day, ITarch 13. we sat on the business of the college 
to be erected in this quarter." Asbury. in his "Journal 
at this time, records : " We have a prospect of obtain- 
ing a hundred acres of land for every one hundred 
pounds we can raise and pay for the support of Wesley 
and "Wnitefield School. On ALonday we rode out to view 
three hundred acres of land offered for the above purpose."" 
The historian of the denomination in Georgia asserts that 
it was decided that five hundred acres of land should bo 
purchased for the institution, the price of which was one 
pound per acre, continental money, and that subscriptions 
to be paid in cattle, rice, indigo, or tobacco, should be se- 
cured for the erection of the buildings. 4 - In a letter to 
ILorrell, June 21, 1790, Asbury says: U I have laid the 
foundation of two schools, one in Georgia, another in Ken- 
tucky, sixty-six feet by forty, form and plan of Cokesbury. 
I have the oiler of hundreds of acres of land in each 
county.' 7 

A school was established about 1TS9 among the Indians. 
On the 12th of February, 1790, Asbury wrote to Alorreil: 
" TTe have made a beginning to teach and preach to the 
Catawaba Indians. The children learn surprisingly, and the 
old people are very attentive to hear preaching, and im- 
plicitly obey, as far as they are taught, as to keeping the 
Sabbath and prayer. TTe give a person twenty pounds a 
year to teach them." 

*Asbuiy , s - Journal," March, 1790, vcL ii, p. 16. 

f Skill's "His:::;- c: He:L: -lisni in G-e:rria &zl± Florida." 



American Methodism. 



205 



There was a school also in Virginia which bore the 
name of Ebenezer. Bishop Asbury labored to establish it 
at the same time that Cokesbury and Bethel were strug- 
gling for existence. In the last month of 1791 Asbury 
says : " Our burdensome stone, Ebenezer, now gives ns 
some trouble and care. If we can employ good men, keep 
up discipline, and maintain credit, it may come to some- 
thing." Three days later he writes : " I had a meeting 
with the trustees of Ebenezer school. Matters are very 
discouraging ; people in general care too little for the edu- 
cation of their children." In January, 1798, Asbury writes : 
" Ebenezer Academy is under poor regulations ; and, what 
is more than all, some gentlemeu of Brunswick County 
had the confidence and want of propriety to wish to wrest 
it wholly out of our hands, after we had collected so much 
money to build it." 

Ebenezer seems to have been more fortunate as to length 
of life than either Cokesbury or Bethel, yet according 
to the first historian of the Church, it ceased to be a 
ZvTethodist school. Mr. Lee says there was a school " on 
the Yadkin, in [North Carolina; one in South Carolina; 
one in Georgia, and one in Kentucky. But most of 
them fell through in a few years. However, there is a 
good school kept at present at Ebenezer,* in Brunswick 
County, in Virginia; but it is not under the direction 
of the Methodists. There are but few trustees remain- 
ing, some being dead, and others removed ; some of the 
remaining trustees are not of our society. The present 
teacher has the entire government of the school ; holding 
the house and plantation free of expense, and taking in 
scholars and governing them as he pleases." 

In 1795 Bishop Asbury dedicated an academy in Xew- 
berry District, South Carolina. Its name was Mount 

* Mr. Lee's " History of the Methodists " was published in 1S09. and Eben- 
ezer school is affirmed to have been in operation at that time, though not 
under Methodist control. 



206 



Centennial History of 



Bethel. " The main building was twenty by forty feet, 
divided by a partition, with chimneys at each end, con- 
structed of rough, unhewn stone." The upper chambers 
served as dormitories. "Several comfortable cabins were 
also built as residences of the teachers and as boarding 
houses. About a hundred yards distant, at the foot of a 
hill, ran a bold spring of pure water of sufficient volume to 
supply all the wants of the resident population." 

This school was proposed by Bishop Asbury, and " Ed- 
ward Finch gave thirty acres of land as a site." On 
Thursday, March 7, 1793, Asbury writes: "Preached at 
Finch's. I consulted the minds of our brethren about 
building a house for Conference, preaching, and a district 
school ; but I have no ground to believe that our well- 
laid plan will be executed — our preachers are unskillful, 
and our friends have little money." Two days afterward, 
however, he preached near Union Court House, where he 
says : " We were closely employed in writing subscriptions 
for the district school, and copies of the constitution." 

" The school was for six years under the rectorship of 
the Rev. Mark Moore, a man eminently qualified for the 
post, assisted by two other teachers, Messrs. Smith and 
Hammond. At the close of this term of service Mr. 
Moore resigned, and took charge of a school in Columbia, 
where by his influence and preaching ability, which was 
of the first order, he materially aided in the permanent 
establishment of Methodism. On the retirement of Mr. 
Moore, Mr. Hammond, father of ex-Governor Hammond, 
took charge of the school, and taught it with signal ability 
for many years. Mount Bethel was largely patronized, 
and had students from Georgia and K"orth Carolina. A 
number of the leading men in South Carolina were pre- 
pared for college at Mount Bethel. The first and second 
classes which were graduated in the South Carolina Col- 
lege received their preparatory training here."* 

* Shipp's " History of Methodism in South Carolina." 



American Methodism. 



207 



Bishop Asbury preached and wrote appeals in behalf of 
Mount Bethel, and " the academy was built and sustained 
by annual collections. The salary of the rector (three 
hundred dollars) was pledged and raised by the South 
Carolina Conference." The school ceased its existence 
about the year 1820. 

The Rev. George Dougharty, of South Carolina, was an 
early laborer in behalf of education in the young Church. 
The Rev. Dr. Lovick Pierce says: "As early as 1803 he 
was laboring in his native state for the establishment of 
an academy, to be under the control of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. His success, however, was very lim- 
ited. He did indeed inaugurate his plan in a small 
academy, founded upon an endowment too meager to 
give it permanent life, and it did not long survive its 
originator.* But it left upon the mind of the Church the 
living idea of the want of sanctified learning, which like 
a precious leaven has been working in the religious mind 
ever since." f 

Bishop Asbury was an enthusiastic friend of Christian 
education, and lie sought to promote it in all parts of the 
Church. In 1791 he addressed a letter to the members 
of the societies, in which he earnestly counseled them 
to build schools for their children throughout the conn- 
try. In that letter he says : " "We have be,en at no 
small expense to provide a house for refined education, 
to serve those whose wealth and desires lead them to 
improve the minds of their children. This will not 
extend to all, neither will it meet the ideas and wishes of 
those who have personal and located interests. What 
I now recommend, as your duty and privilege, is to give 
the key of knowledge in a general way to your children 
and. those of the poor in the vicinity of your small 

* Mr. Dougbarty died in 1806. 

f Sp-ague's " Annals of the American Pulpit," page 291. 
\ The reference here is, no doubt, to Cokesbury. 



208 



Centennial History of 



towns and villages. It is submitted to your serious con- 
sideration, providence, and charity, whether a plan of 
Christian education may not be brought into execution. 
In every large society where the members are able and 
willing, to build a school for your sons and to appro- 
priate land — to employ a single skillful, pious young man 
of the society ; fix his salary according to that of a travel- 
ing preacher ; or, if a married man, the same with that of a 
married preacher. The worship of God in a school-house 
should be the reading of the word of the Lord, singing, 
and prayer every morning and evening. Playing strictly 
prohibited. To enjoin manly exercise; working in the 
garden or field, walking, reading, or speaking in public, or 
bathing. To admit the children whose parents are not in 
our society, by paying, and submission to the rules. To 
take as many poor of our own and others as you can. To 
build a separate school for your daughters, and put these 
under a gracious woman of abilities ; to learn to read, write, 
sew, knit, mark, and make their own clothing. To have 
their religious exercises and instructions the same as your 
sons. To expel the false, obstinately wicked, and incorri- 
gible of either sex. The elder can spend a day in the 
school once in two weeks, to see how both parts of the 
education are attended to. It might be well to elect and 
appoint tl^ree men, wise, good, and willing, as trustees or 
stewards, to serve a year, in order to manage the tempo- 
ralities, visit at set times, admit or expel after consulting 
the elder ; and three very discreet, godly women for the 
daughters, who shall do the same. 

" The school may be erected and finished clear of debt, 
or rent, for one hundred pounds. Some pious people will 
probably at their death leave legacies, and annual subscrip- 
tions should be opened through the society, and for any 
others that will assist. A charity sermon once a year and 
public collections may be necessary. Perhaps sixty or 
seventy pounds will be sufficient for the annual expense. 



American Methodism. 



209 



The sisters must collect among their sex, and also see how 
the mistress performs her duty." 

The plan which Bishop Asburj thus outlined he tried 
to put into operation. On the sixth of December, 1792, 
he wrote in Virginia : " Kode through the rain to Edward 
Dromgoole's. Here I found a few friends, and formed a 
constitution for a district school, which, with a little alter- 
ation, will form a general rule for any part of the con- 
tinent." Nearly six months previously he noted in his 
Journal the founding of a school in Pennsylvania, of 
which he says : " We have founded a seminary of learning 
called Union School. Brother C. Hunger is manager, 
who also has charge of the district. This establishment is 
designed for instruction in grammar, languages, and the 
sciences." 

Prosperity did not very long attend any of the early educa- 
tional enterprises of American Methodism. Poverty, in- 
experience, divided counsels, and especially fire, were for- 
midable obstacles ; too formidable, indeed, for the infant 
Church to overcome. Experience, however, was acquired, 
mistakes became manifest, the devotion of the denomina- 
tion to education was vindicated, and results of permanent 
value were obtained. It may be boldly asserted that no 
Christians in the United States ever labored more zeal- 
ously to establish institutions of learning than did the lead- 
ers of Methodism in the years immediately following the 
organization of the Church. Those early struggles and 
sacrifices, though ending in disaster, are an enduring and 
overwhelming refutation of the charge that the Methodist 
Episcopal Church has not been friendly to intelligence and 
culture. 

It has been said that such was even Dr. Coke's concep- 
tion of the illiteracy of the American preachers, that at a 
Conference in Baltimore he suggested to Asbury that the 
itinerants be called up to show if they could read. As- 
bury assented, and proposed that Monday should be the 



210 



Centennial History of 



time. On Sunday he put up some of his master work- 
men, "and they preached with so much eloquence and 
power, that the impulsive doctor sprang to his feet and 
embraced Asbury, exclaiming, ' I can't preach a bit ! I 
can't preach a bit ! ' Asbury quietly smiled, and asked, 
' Shall we have them up to-morrow and see whether or not 
they can read ? ' ' 2s o. I don't care whether they can 
read or not : I can't preach a bit ! ' " * 

Plans better adapted to promote Methodist culture might, 
perhaps, have been devised than those which were em- 
ployed ; yet at the beginning of this educational epoch 
there were only fifteen thousand members, most of whom 
had but recently been gathered to the altars of the 
Church. The Superintendents and preachers, a band of 
but little more than a hundred, were burdened with the 
labors of the mightiest evangelical movement that ever 
blessed the continent. Is it wonderful, then, that those 
itinerants in the saddle and their new converts did not ad- 
minister the educational concerns of the Church with un- 
errino- sagacity? If Harvard and Yale had been twice 
reduced to ashes in the first decade of their existence, 
would they have recovered from such calamities more 
quickly than did the literary enterprise of Methodism 
after it was baffled by the flames ? 

One of the ablest Methodist preachers of his time, whose 
travels with Bishop Asbury in the first years of this cent- 
ury gave him the means of observing all the departments 
of the Church's work throughout the country, published in 
the year 1S22 his views of the first labors of the de- 
nomination in the cause of education. He says : " Cokes- 
bury College was almost coeval with our ecclesiastical 
independence. The whole history of this school of our 
prophets furnishes a striking proof of the want of com- 
prehensive views and a knowledge of practical details. It 
was inconsistent with the theory of those times to divide 

* The Rev. Dr. Summers, in " The Wesley Memorial Volume," p. 525. 



\ 



American Methodism. 211 

labor, even for the sake of maintaining a college. The 
traveling connection was disburdened of this care, and 
the building was soon after burned, but by what means 
was never known. Several other buildings were erected 
in different parts for the purpose of education, all of which 
sank into neglect, while numbers of preachers were locat- 
ing and seeking a livelihood in different callings. A 
small part of the money which was laid out in those build- 
ings might have been appropriated to qualify preachers 
to become teachers, who might have been placed in the 
most suitable situations, and encouraged to begin in a 
small way without being degraded in rank below their 
brethren.* Such a beginning might have been made, if 
the views of projectors had been directed to such a plan. 

" Our early seminaries failed for the want of genial prin- 
ciples. Dr. Coke brought all his ideas with him from Ox- 
ford, gave them to Mr. Asbury, and left the continent. 
Mr. Asbury could not be in colleges and schools and every- 
where else at the same time. Though he did much, and 
tried to do more, he possessed in no degree the attribute 
of ubiquity. These high-sounding measures soon lost 
their novelty, and the people became weary of solicitations 
for more money, of the fruits of which the prospect was 
daily becoming more distant. Since the conflagration at 
Cokesbury, it has been common to hear among the preach- 
ers of the frowns of Providence upon our institutions of 
learning ; but really it would be much more correct to hear 
of our own errors in this department. Whenever men 
aim at impossibilities they must needs experience the 
frowns of Providence. At this time, though the 
numbers and the wealth of the Connection have so greatly 

* The Rev. Hope Hull, who located in 1795, was awake to the necessity 
for schools, and he opened one in Georgia for both sexes, and " divided his 
time between teaching- and preaching-." By his efforts chiefly, "the first 
respectable brick building was erected in Washington," Georgia, "designed 
to be used as an academy." 



212 



Centennial History of 



increased, it would be impossible to carry the former plan 
into execution. And yet it is possible, and always was, to 
do much toward the advancement of learning: anions: us. 
Providence never did and never will frown upon practi- 
cable means of instruction." * 

About twenty years after the destruction of the school in 
Baltimore, a Methodist collegiate enterprise was inaugu- 
rated in that city, under the presidency of Dr. Samuel K. 
Jennings. Dr. Jennings was a liberally educated man, and 
a graduate in the class of 1790 of Rutger's College. He 
was an illustration of the truth that the early Methodist 
preachers won intelligent as well as illiterate people to 
God. Young Jennings, a few years after he left college, 
had an interview with an itinerant, whose name was Heath, 
in which he uttered deistical opinions, of which he was 
fond. The preacher meekly and politely listened to the 
educated young man, and when he paused for a reply, 
said : " Young man, I see that you are established upon a 
rock ! " which gratified Jennings ; but then the preacher 
proceeded to add, "from which nothing hut the power of 
God can ever move you" " Ah, what's that?" thought 
Jennings. " The power of God ; is there, indeed, such a 
thing as the realization of that power ? And is this his only 
answer ? " And so, to his utter disappointment, he was him- 
self instantly confounded. In truth the power of God was 
really on him. He continued to reflect. " The power of 
God ! This is a new element in the process. I must ex- 
amine this. If it be a genuine experience I must know 
it." The result was, the skeptical graduate bowed at the 
mercy-seat and became a devoted Christian, and a very 
popular preacher in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He 
did not however join the itinerancy. At a Conference in 
Virginia, in 1S15, Asbury, who seldom describes the ser- 
mons he heard, says : " Dr. Jennings preached us a great 

* The Rev. Xicliolas Snethen in the t; Wesleyan Repository," vol. i, 1822, 
pp. 372-73. 



American Methodism. 



213 



sermon on, ' I am the vine, ye are the branches.' " Dr. 
Jennings was, no doubt, the first native preacher of 
American Methodism who had received a full collegiate 
training. 

As early as the year 1800 Asbury looked toward Dr. 
Jennings as a man whom it was desirable to bring into 
the service of the young Church as an educator. Hold- 
ing the Conference at Bethel, Kentucky, in that year, 
he says : " It was thought expedient to carry the first 
design of education into execution, and that we should 
employ a man of sterling qualifications, to be chosen by and 
under the direction of a select number of trustees and 
others, who should obligate themselves to see him paid, and 
take the profits, if any, arising from the establishment. 
Dr. Jennings was thought of, talked of, and written to." 

Jennings, however, did not go to Kentucky, but Valen- 
tine Cook took Bethel school. In about seventeen years 
subsequently, we find Dr. Jennings at the head of Asbury 
College, in Baltimore. 

This institution was opened in 1817. With respect 
to its origin and design the editors of the " Methodist 
Magazine," in the year 1818, said : " Many sincere friends 
of Methodism have long realized the great deficiency in 
the methods and means of education ; and have regretted 
the want of seminaries under the special direction and 
superintendence of that religious community to which they 
are united. A laudable zeal for the establishment of 
such institutions is now prevailing in different sections of 
the United States. The Asbury College has probably 
exceeded in its progress, considering the short time 
it has been established, any literary institution in this 
country. The character of the president, the Rev. Sam- 
uel K. Jennings, M.D., is too well known to need any com- 
mendation from us. His comprehensive mind, illuminated 
by science, has long been employed in designing a system 
on which a knowledge of the important branches of litera- 



214 Centennial History of 

ture might be obtained with the greatest ease and facility. 
The plan and actual operations of the Asbury College 
will demonstrate that these exertions have not been inef- 
fectual. 

" The constitution of this college makes it necessary that 
the president must forever be a minister of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church. The trustees are to be elected annual- 
ly by ballot, who must be thirty years of age, of at least 
five years' standing in the Methodist Church, and resident 
in Baltimore. Candidates for the itinerant ministry are to 
have tuition without charge, and as soon as funds can be 
provided to defray the expense any number of the sons 
of itinerant ministers of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
will be admitted to the utmost extent of the means pro- 
vided. And whenever ways and means can be procured, 
the candidates for the itinerant ministry will be furnished 
with board and tuition to any number for which the nec- 
essary provision is made by the friends of the institution. 
It will be the province of the Conference to recommend 
the candidates for each of these benevolent purposes. 

" There are now about one hundred and seventy students 
and scholars in the seminary, whose progress, taken collect- 
ively, surpasses any thing commonly exhibited in public 
schools.'' 

The prospects of Asbury College seemed very flattering, 
but, like its predecessors, it expired. Another school was 
established in the city of New York, called the Wesleyan 
Seminary. It was opened in the beginning of the year 
1819. It, too, was the fruit of struggles, and its beginning 
was prosperous. It had two departments, one for males, 
and the other for females. The principal of the school was 
appointed by the New York Conference, and there were 
four assistant instructors. The general English branches 
were taught, and also Latin and Creek. At the end of the 
first six months the school numbered about one hundred 
and sixty scholars. One of its friends in 1819 wrote r 



American Methodism. 



215 



" I cannot for my own part resist the conviction that it has 
the smiles and the protection of Heaven. The pleasing 
prospect which it affords of present and future benefit to 
this section of our Church is fully calculated to invite 
redoubled effort." 

In the period, 1817-1827, inclusive, there were estab- 
lished under the patronage of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church the following institutions of learning, namely : 
New Market ; New Hampshire, which developed into 
Wilbraham ; New York City ; Cazenovia, New York ; 
White Plains, New York ; Bucksport, Maine ; Washing- 
ton, Mississippi ; and Athens, Georgia. Two colleges 
were also founded and put in operation in the same period, 
namely : Augusta College, in Kentucky ; and Madison 
College, in Pennsylvania. At the latter institution Bishop 
Simpson was educated. 

Augusta College was the product of the joint efforts of 
the Ohio and Kentucky Conferences. George S. Houston, 
of Dayton, Ohio, a layman of intelligence and piety, sub- 
mitted to the Rev. James B. Finley, who was then a pre- 
siding elder, the question of erecting an institution of 
learning for the Church in the West. u The subject was 
canvassed in Mr. Finley's district, and then brought before 
the Ohio Conference." * 

The Ohio Conference, not deeming itself competent to 
attempt the enterprise alone, sent a Committee to the Ken- 
tucky Conference to propose a union with it in establishing 
a college. Tiie Kentucky Conference gave favorable con- 
sideration to the proposed project. This was in the year 
1821. Commissioners were appointed by each Conference, 
and the college was soon put in operation at Augusta, 
Kentucky. In 1822, the Rev. John P. Finley was ap- 
pointed president of the institution. 

Augusta enjoyed religious prosperity. The Rev. John 
P. Durbin wrote, in January, 182S : " This has been one of 

* Bedford's " History of Methodism in Kentucky." 



216 



Centennial History of 



the best days I have ever seen. We have a most glorious 
revival. What will be the fruits no man can yet tell. 
Twenty-two joined this morning, many of them young 
men, and students of Augusta College. I think the reviv- 
al should be considered among the students principally. 
It commenced with them. It would do you good to wit- 
ness the soundness of their conversion, and the ardor of 
their triumph. Our college is prosperous. We have 
about one hundred students. I had long believed that a 
college could be made not only the nursery of learning, 
but also of morals and religion. I am convinced of it 
more and more every day. I rejoice that we have in the 
West one regular college where our youth may be educated, 
and neither their morals nor their principles corrupted. 
And yet we do not teach them religion otherwise than we 
teach other men, namely, by preaching to them, and en- 
deavoring to walk uprightly before them. I am clearly 
convinced that our youth should not be taught by any 
man who is not decidedly pious." 

In a postscript to this communication, which was pub- 
lished in the " Christian Advocate and Journal," February 
22, 1828, Professor Durbin said : " I closed my letter last 
night at nine o'clock. I then returned to the church, and 
my eyes never beheld such a scene. The house was full of 
mourners. It is not yet known how many were converted. 
There are but few students of Augusta College but that 
are either converted or serious." 

From this literary enterprise the Church and the country 
reaped large results. " Its faculty was always composed 
of men of piety, genius, and learning; and in all the 
learned professions in almost every Western and Southern 
State its alumni may yet be found. It gave to the medical 
profession, to the bar, and to the pulpit many of their 
brightest lights." * 

After considerably more than a decade of struggle, 

* Bedford's " History of Methodism in Kentucky." 



American Methodism. 



217 



Augusta, like its predecessors, failed. In 1853 one of its 
founders, the Rev. James B. Finley, said of it : " Augusta 
College, like Cokesbmy, seems to have been born under 
some malignant star. Patronized by the two largest Con- 
ferences in the West, having a faculty from time to time 
composed of the brightest stars that shone in the galaxy of 
Western literature, such as Durbin, Tomlinson, Bascom, 
Fielding, and others, and having for her alumni a host of 
talented men in every profession, scattered all over the 
country; still, like an ill-guided but richly freighted 
vessel in a stormy sea, she foundered and went down, and 
the waters closed over her unhappy fate forever." * 

Madison College was established at Uniontown, Penn- 
sylvania, under the auspices of the Pittsburg Conference. 
Its charter was granted by the Legislature in the winter of 
1826-27. Its first president was the Kev. Dr. Henry B. 
Bascom, and one of its first professors was the Eev. Dr. 
Charles Elliott. The institution was opened in September, 
1827. It labored under pecuniary and other embarrass- 
ments, which hindered its success, and after a few years 
the interest of the Church in it was transferred to Alle- 
ghany College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, which was opened 
under the patronage of the Pittsburg Conference in Novem- 
ber, 1833, and which yet lives in increasing vigor and 
usefulness. 

* "Autobiography of the Rev. James B. Finley." 



10 



218 Centennial History of 



CHAPTEK X. 

THE PENTECOST OE METHODISM. 

NOT immediately, but the tenth day after the ascension 
of Jesus, did Jerusalem flame with the fiery tongues 
of Pentecost. Not immediately, but two and a half years 
after American Methodism became a separate Church, did 
its day of Pentecost fully come. The religious power 
that was visible in the new Church from the time of 
its advance from Lovely Lane Meeting-house, in Balti- 
more, culminated in the great revival of 1787. Never 
since Methodism appeared in America, and probably not 
since its birth in England, had such amazing displays of 
spiritual power been seen. Indeed Mr. Wesley said that 
he had read of no such revival since the pentecostal days. 
Virginia was the chief arena of the wonderful scenes of 
this sublime drama. - Three circuits in the southern por- 
tion of the State shared most largely in the powerful 
awakening. From the Poanoke to the James, and from 
the mountains to the sea, the revival swept like flames 
through a dry forest. 

It was greatest in midsummer. Amid the sultry noon- 
tide * the fire fell from heaven. Its effect was imme- 
diate and overwhelming. Persecutors of the Methodists 
fell prostrate under the power of God. The screams and 
cries of convicted multitudes were as the sound of many 
waters ; and the shouts of the redeemed " like the noise 
of the seas." On the 27th of August John Dickins 
wrote from New York : " The Lord hath made bare his 
holy arm in Virginia. It looks like the dawn of the mil- 

*It is stated that the hour of Methodist preaching in the country at that 
period was noon. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



219 



lennium." From amidst the wonderful scenes Philip Cox 
wrote : " Great news from Zion ! Never was there so 
great a work of God in America, (nor yet in England 
from what we have been able to learn,) as is now in the 
Brunswick and Sussex Circuits." Dickins says : " It is 
computed that about Brunswick itself not less than 7,000 
souls are under deep conviction. The work is also very 
extraordinary in some parts of North Carolina. In some 
parts of Virginia the congregations on Sabbath days con- 
sist of several thousands, and many of the greatest perse- 
cutors are struck down as dead. Surely this is the Arm 
of Omnipotence. Ride on, Lord Jesus, ride on ! " 

James O'Kelly was presiding elder of the district that 
was most shaken by this mighty Pentecost. He exclaims : 
" Old Brunswick and Sussex Circuits exceed any thing 
I ever saw or heard of in America I believe six thousand 
were assembled together at the quarterly meeting held a 
few days ago for the Brunswick Circuit. Hundreds were 
crying for mercy as on the brink of hell." Says Cox of 
that scene : " They lay in rows on the ground crying for 
mercy in the deepest distress. Many of them were the 
principal gentry of the county. Divers of those who had 
opposed Dr. Coke when he delivered his testimony against 
negro slavery were now converted to God." Describ- 
ing the great quarterly meeting more particularly, Cox 
says : " Brother O'Kelly preached. Brothers Dromgoole, 
Brown, Easter, and myself exhorted. Hundreds were in 
loud cries for mercy. The second day was much greater. 
It is thought above a hundred whites, besides as many ne- 
groes, found peace with God on that day." 

Quickly afterward a quarterly meeting was held at 
Jones's Chapel, on Sussex Circuit. Cox went to it, but the 
Holy Spirit was there before him. " Before the preach- 
ers got there," he says, " the work broke out, so that when 
we came to the chapel above sixty were down on the floor 
groaning in loud cries to God for mercy. Brother O'Kelly 



220 



Centennial History of 



tried to preach, but could not be heard for the cries of the 
distressed. It is thought our audience consisted of no less 
than 5,000 the first day ; and the second day of twice that 
number. We preached to them in the open air, in the 
chapel, and in the barn at the same time. Such a sight 
my eyes never saw before, nor read of, either in Mr. Wes- 
ley's Journals, or any other writings, except the account in 
Scripture of the day of Pentecost. Never, I believe, was 
the like seen since the apostolic age. Hundreds were at 
once down on the ground in bitter cries to God for mercy. 
Many of the first quality in the country were wallowing in 
the dust, with their silks and broadcloths, powdered heads, 
rings and ruffles ; and some of them were so convulsed that 
they could neither speak nor stir. Many stood by perse- 
cuting, till the power of the Lord laid hold of them, and 
then they fell themselves, and cried as loud as those they 
just before persecuted. As we had rather be under than 
over the just number, we believe that near two hundred 
whites and more than half as many blacks professed to find 
Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write." 

Hope Hull graphically describes some thrilling scenes 
of the revival on his (Amelia) circuit : " Some of the vilest 
opposers," he writes, "now come to the preaching, and, 
with Paul, they are struck to the earth and cry for mercy. 
The people of God get round them, and pray with them for 
five or six hours together." Yery touching were some of 
the scenes. The tender ties of kinship were refined and hal- 
lowed by the melting fires of that pentecostal baptism. 
Love for their kindred hurried the redeemed ones off in 
pursuit of them. "At last," says Hull, " one will begin to 
praise God, and say, ' My soul is happy ! my soul is happy ! 
The Lord has pardoned my sins ! ' Then they will run 
away to their relations — husbands to their wives, and wives 
to their husbands, parents to their children, and children 
to their parents — and begin to talk to them and pray for 
them. Presently they are deeply affected. Then the 



American Methodism. 



221 



people of God gather around them again and begin to 
pray." 

The pleading converts were effective instruments. 
Their anointed tongues were eloquent. Their yearning 
solicitude for those they loved was irresistible. With a 
pathos that melted and won many hearts, they spoke of 
Jesus and his salvation. Mr. O' Kelly says that "more 
were awakened by the warm and earnest addresses of 
the young converts than by the preaching of the word." 
Mr. Cox, at an infant's funeral, saw thirty converted, and 
the next day he went to an appointment, and says : 
" Some of the young children, born at the funeral yester- 
day, and a few in distress that did not obtain deliverance 
then, had got here before me and kindled such a flame 
that I could not be heard in the house. So I sat in a 
chair on a table* in the wood and exhorted from these 
words, ' The Son of man is come to seek and to save that 
which was lost.' Above sixty were set at liberty this day 
in this place ; blessed be God ! " 

There were in this revival beautiful and affecting family 
altar scenes, the remembrance of which must be sweet in 
heaven. " At many houses," says Mr. Cox, " at some of 
them, three, at some of them, four, found a saving change 
while at family prayer." Indeed, the work was not con- 
fined to any place. "It was common," says Jesse Lee, "to 
hear of souls being brought to God while at work in their 
houses, or in their fields. It was often the case that the 
people in their corn-fields, white people and black, and 
sometimes both together, would begin to sing, and being 
affected would begin to pray, and others would join with 
them, and they would continue their cries till some of 
them would find peace to their souls." 

All the means of grace were efficient — the preaching, 
the sacramental altar, the class-meeting, and the prayer- 
meeting. " At prayer-meetings," says Lee, " the work 

* Mr. Cox at the time was afflicted in one of his limbs. 



222 



Centennial History of 



prospered, and many souls were born again, and the 
meetings often continued all night without intermission. 
In class-meetings the Lord frequently set the mourning 
souls at liberty." The example of the Church of the Pen- 
tecost in Jerusalem was repeated, in that the number of 
the saved increased day by day. Says Mr. O'Kelly, " In 
each circuit souls are daily coming into the fold of Christ." 

Among the multitude added to the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, as the fruit of this wonderful work of God, were 
John M'Kendree, his wife, and a number of their chil- 
dren. One of the sons, William M'Kendree, became one 
of the Church's distinguished leaders and Bishops. He 
records the fact of the great revival " in Brunswick Circuit, 
under Mr. John Easter, in 1787." He was powerfully 
moved by the artless recital by an eye-witness of one of 
the revival scenes. He went to visit a friend who was going 
with his wife to meeting. " Upon my going to the house 
of my friend," he says, " he declined going to church, sent 
a servant with his wife, and we spent the time in reading 

a comedy and drinking wine. Mrs. stayed late at 

church, but at last, when we were impatient for dinner, 
she returned and brought strange things to our ears. With 
astonishment flushing in her countenance she began to tell 
whom she left ' in a flood of tears,' who were c down on 
the floor,' who were 'converted,' what an 1 uproar' was 
going on among the people, cries for mercy and shouts for 
joy. My heart was touched at her representation. I re- 
solved to seek religion, and began in good earnest to pray 
for it that evening." 

M'Kendree soon went to meeting " fasting and praying." 
He says : " Mr. Easter preached from John iii, 19-22 — 
'And this is the condemnation, that light is come into 
the world,' etc. From this time I had no peace of mind ; 
I was completely miserable. My heart was broken up, and 
I saw that it was evil above all things and ' desperately 
wicked.' A view of God's forbearance, and of the debas- 



American Methodism. 



223 



ing sin of ingratitude, of which I had been guilty in griev- 
ing the Spirit of God, overwhelmed me with confusion. 
Now my conscience roared like a lion. ' The pains of hell 
gat hold upon me.' " 

For three days the repentant M'Kendree was in dis- 
tress. He exclaims: "I might have said, 'My bed shall 
comfort me, my couch shall ease my complaint; then 
thou scarest me with dreams, and terrifiest me through 
visions : so that my soul chooseth strangling, and death 
rather than my life.' But in the evening of the third 
day deliverance came. "While Mr. Easter was preaching I 
was praying as well as I could, for I was almost ready 
to despair of mercy. Suddenly my doubts and fears 
fled, hope sprung up in my soul, and the burden was re- 
moved." 

This revival was led by valiant men — we had almost 
said apostles — John Easter, James O'Kelly, Philip Cox, 
and Hope Hull. They were wise in winning souls, mighty 
through God. It may almost be said they shook the con- 
tinent, for the wonderful tidings spread afar. Jesse Lee 
informs us that accounts of this work were spread by 
newspapers " all through the United States." The good 
news also flew over England, for some of the most impor- 
tant and vivid statements of this chapter are from letters 
of O'Kelly, Cox, Dickins, and Hull, in Wesley's " Armin- 
ian Magazine " of September, 1788. 

These great revival preachers were on God's mission, 
and they felt it. They felt, too, that God was with 
them, and so they were fearless of earth and hell ! To them 
all the verities of God were real. Not fine abstractions, 
not entertaining theories about hell or heaven did they 
preach, but they proclaimed "the cross with all its shame," 
retribution and its terrors, and heaven with its enchanting 
glories, with much assurance and with great boldness. They 
looked at the things which are not seen. They " endured 
as seeing Him who is invisible." From the midst of the 



224 



Centennial History of 



revival Q'Kelly cried, " For some time past I have felt 
such an awful sense of the presence of God, as if Christ 
were coming in the clouds of heaven to judge the quick 
and the dead." 

Probably the mightiest of this band of invincible and 
victorious heroes was John Easter, M'Kendree's father 
in God. He " excited great attention. Hundreds, and 
sometimes thousands, attended his appointments. Fre- 
quently while he was preaching the foundations of the 
place would seem to be shaken, and the people to be 
moved like the trees of the forest by a mighty tempest. 
Many were the ' slain of the Lord,' and many were made 
spiritually alive. If my memory serves me, four hundred 
were counted at a four -days' meeting." Thus wrote 
M'Kendree of this giant of Methodism. 

Easter walked with God, and exercised a powerful, 
conquering faith. God greatly honored his simple but 
sublime confidence. M'Kendree describes a scene of which 
he declares he was an eye-witness, which illustrates Easter's 
power with God : " While preaching to a large concourse 
of people in the open air, at a time of considerable drought, 
it began to thunder, and drops of rain fell. He stopped 
preaching, and besought the Lord to withhold the rain 
until evening — to pour out his Spirit, convert the people, 
and then water the earth. He then resumed his subject. 
The appearance of rain increased — the people began to get 
uneasy — some moved to take off their saddles, when, in his 
peculiar manner, he told the Lord that there were ' sinners 
there that must be converted or be damned,' and prayed 
that he would ' stop the bottles of heaven until the even- 
ing.' He closed his prayer, and assured us, in the most 
confident manner, that we might keep our seats — that it 
would not rain to wet us ; that ' souls are to be converted 
here to-day — my God assures me of it, and you may be- 
lieve it.' The congregation became composed, and we did 
not get wet ; for the clouds parted, and although there was 



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a fine rain on both sfdes of us, there was none where we 
were until night. The Lord's Spirit was poured out in an 
uncommon degree, many were convicted, and a consider- 
able number professed to be converted that day." 

A man who covenanted to abuse the preacher entered 
the place of worship on one occasion with a club. Mr. 
Easter reproved him for some cause, and he shook the 
club at him. He received a sharper rebuke, whereupon, 
says M'Kendree, he " approached Mr. Easter brandishing 
his weapon, with vengeance flashing in his countenance. 
The preacher calmly said, ' I regard the spilling of my 
blood for the sake of Christ no more than the bite of a 
fly,' but warned the furious man of the most awful con- 
sequences on his own part. The man was near enough 
to strike him, but Mr. Easter dared him to strike, tell- 
ing him what God would do if he laid the weight of 
his hand upon him. The man's countenance changed — he 
presently turned round and walked off. ' I told you the 
devil is a coward,' said Mr. Easter, as the crest-fallen man 
withdrew." 

Wonderful things, indeed, are related of this hero. The 
Eev. Dr. Leroy M. Lee, in his work on the " Life and 
Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee," speaks of the facts which 
were connected with Easter's ministry as " almost miracu- 
lous," and of his success as " astonishing." A marvelous 
scene is described by the Rev. Dr. Bennett, in his " Memo- 
rials of Methodism in Virginia," which he says is fully 
authenticated. Easter was preaching in a forest to a large 
congregation, when a sudden sound was heard as of a rush- 
ing wind. All eyes were turned upward, but no leaf 
quivered ; still the noise continued. Many horses broke 
loose and rushed wildly through the woods. Men and 
women by hundreds fell upon the ground. Great cries 
arose from the startled and convicted multitude. Conver- 
sions quickly followed, and the work resulted, ultimately, 
in hundreds of additions to the Church. 
10* 



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Centennial History of 



James O'Kelly, who presided over the district where 
this revival was most extraordinary, was one of the mighty 
leaders of Methodism in that day. He had a burning zeal 
for souls. He was a workman not to be ashamed. Asbury 
speaks of meeting him in 1780, and says, he u appeared to 
be a warm-hearted, good man." Afterward he says : 
" James O'Kelly and myself enjoyed and comforted each 
other. This dear man rose at midnight and prayed very 
devoutly for me and himself. He cries, 6 Give me children, 
or I die.' " He was M'Kendree's first presiding elder, and 
he who was converted while hearing the wonderful John 
Easter writes : " Brother O'Kelly preached, surely the 
greatest sermon I ever heard." Dr. Coke said of O'Kelly, 
" He has been tried and proved ; is much owned of God, 
and of the most undaunted courage." 

One of his contemporaries describes O'Kelly as " la- 
borious in the ministry, a man of zeal and usefulness, an 
advocate for holiness, given to prayer and fasting, an able 
defender of the Methodist doctrine and faith, and hard 
against negro slavery in private, and from the press and 
pulpit."* 

Philip Cox was a devoted laborer in that pentecostal 
visitation. Dr. Coke described him as a young preacher, 
" a deeply pious and zealous man, and owned of God in the 
salvation of souls, as much, perhaps, as any one now living." 

Hope Hull, who also was prominent in this great work, 
was one of the remarkable men of his time. In 1788 
Coke said of him : " He is young, but is indeed a flame of 
fire. He appears always on the stretch for the salvation 
of souls. Our only fear concerning him is, that the sword 
is too keen for the scabbard — that he lays himself out in 
the work far beyond his strength." Dr. Lovick Pierce 
describes Hull as an " awakening and inviting " preacher, 
who understood how to expose the working of the de- 
ceitful heart. Sinners often charged him with having 
* Bennett's " Memorials of Method'sm in Virginia," p. 315. 



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learned their secrets and of using the pulpit to gratify him- 
self in their exposure. " In many of his masterly efforts 
his words rushed upon his audience like an avalanche, and 
multitudes seemed to be carried before him like the yield- 
ing captives of a stormed castle." 

The widely -known Lorenzo Dow, who had previously 
been under religious concern, was deeply awakened under 
a sermon by Hull, in New England. Dow says : " He 
preached from these words : ' Is there no balm in Gilead ? 
is there no physician there ? why then is not the health of 
the daughter of my people recovered ? ' 

" As he drew the analogy between a person sick of the 
consumption and a sin-sick soul, he endeavored to also 
show how the real balm of Gilead would heal the con- 
sumption ; and to spiritualize it in the blood of Christ 
healing the soul, in which he described the way to heaven, 
and pointed out the way-marks, which I had never heard so 
clearly describee! before. By which means I was convinced 
that this man enjoyed something I was destitute of. 

" He then got upon the application, and pointing his 
finger toward me, made this expression : < Sinner, there is 
a frowning Providence above your head, and a burning 
hell beneath your feet, and nothing but the brittle thread 
of life prevents you from falling into perdition. But, 
says the sinner, What must I do ? You must pray. But 
I can't pray. If you don't pray you will be damned and 
as he brought out the last expression he either stamped 
with his one foot on the box on which he stood, or smote 
with his hand upon the Bible, which both together came 
home like a dagger to my heart. I had liked to have 
fallen backward from my seat, but saved myself by catching 
hold of my cousin, who sat by my side, and I durst not 
stir for some time for fear that I should tumble into hell. 
My sins and the damnable nature of them were in a mo- 
ment exhibited to my view." * 

*Dow's Journal. 



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Centennial History of 



One of Hull's distinguished contemporaries, the 'Rev. 
Nicholas Snethen, says of him : " His greatest gift was 
exhortation. If another preacher was present, he always 
chose to follow and conclude the exercises. He pos- 
sessed what may be called a contagious voice. Its in- 
tonations were so deep and peculiar that, when com- 
bined with the operations of his religious feeling, it 
was almost impossible to resist its effects. I have seen 
persons fall under his preaching as though they had re- 
ceived a mortal wound, and vast congregations agitated 
like the trees of a wood in a tempest." Mr. Snethen 
further says of him, that " he traveled extensively, mar- 
ried, located, and settled in Georgia. Mr. Hull sustained 
a spotless reputation, and perhaps no preacher in Georgia 
was more universally respected and beloved." 

Such were the men whose ministry was honored of God 
in inaugurating and guiding one of the most marvelous 
religious awakenings that has occurred in the whole period 
of Christian history. In Cox's circuit, he reported that 
between twelve and fifteen hundred whites, besides a 
great number of blacks, were converted, and Easter re- 
ported about two thousand white converts in his circuit. 
In Hull's circuit the converts numbered about eight hun- 
dred. The work spread into North and South Carolina, 
Georgia, and elsewhere, as well as into other parts of Vir- 
ginia. Such was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon 
the Methodist societies that the accessions for the year ap- 
proached the number that there were of members in the 
Church when it came forth from the Christmas Confer- 
ence. In the three circuits in Yirginia — Brunswick, Sus- 
sex, and Amelia — in which the work was greatest, the 
increase was 2,029 whites, and 817 colored. In the whole 
Connection the increase was 11,512.* Not only were sin- 
ners converted in multitudes, but believers were, of course, 
refreshed. O'Kelly says, " Old Methodists are taking a 

* " Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee," p. 205. 



/ 



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229 



new growth, and going on in the power and spirit of the 
Gospel." 

The great work proved genuine. Cox writes : " I bless 
God the new-born we have in society seem to stand stead- 
fast. I think I have not yet lost above ten or twelve 
whites of all that I have joined." Methodism feels now 
the effect of that wonderful pentecostal triumph, and as 
its result many harps in heaven are yielding melody to the 
touch of glorified hands that else were silent. Nearly 
half a century after the glorious days of that historic re- 
vival one of its converts, Bishop M'Kendree, fell at the 
head of the still advancing hosts, exclaiming, "All is 
well ! " 



230 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTER XL 

POWERFUL REVIVALS IN 1789 AND 1790. 

THE marvelous outpouring of trie Holy Spirit we have 
just contemplated transformed Methodism in Virginia, 
and gave a powerful impulse to the Methodist movement. 
The new Church was lifted on the swelling tide of the 
revival to a position it never occupied before. Intolerant 
prejudices were melted in the flames of that modern Pente- 
cost, and many of the stoutest adversaries suddenly became 
ardent champions of the cause. The resulting moral ref- 
ormation was remarkable. One result was the release of 
slaves. Philip Bruce says that " in Sussex, the Methodists 
manumitted above a hundred at one court." Jesse Lee 
visited the favored region some months after the revival 
had passed its zenith, and found such a change visible as 
he had never seen among any people. The power was 
yet present in the assemblies. 

While preaching at Petersburg on " What shall it profit 
a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own 
soul ? " Lee saw some striking spectacles. " One woman 
dropped from her seat like a person struck dead ; but in a 
little while she was enabled to rise and praise a sin-pardon- 
ing God aloud, and many shouted for joy." " I observed," 
says Lee, "a woman finely dressed, just at my right hand, 
who trembled as though she had an ague. At length 
she stood up, and I expected to have seen her drop in the 
place where she stood. In a little time a young woman 
came and took hold of her, and they both fell down on 
their knees together. The young woman began to cry 
aloud for the mourner; in a little time another young 
woman came and cried with all her might. By this time 



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there were several crying aloud, and the house rang with 
the cries of the people. I began to weep myself, and was 
forced to stop preaching. Cries and groans were heard in 
every part of the house. I could not help praising God 
aloud among the people. Two professed that God had 
pardoned their sins, and many careless sinners were cut to 
the heart." 

About the beginning of 1789 the work extended to 
Annapolis, Maryland. The Rev. John Haggerty says : 
" Brother Chalmers brought the holy fire from Virginia 
with him." It spread abroad, and " such a revival name 
broke out as was never known before in this State." 

In early Methodism the watch-night was a special and 
a solemn service. It was not held on the last night of the 
year only, but at any time. " The first watch-night was 
held in London. The service at these times begins at half 
past eight o'clock, and continues till midnight. The cus- 
tom was begun at Kingswood by the colliers, who before 
their conversion used to spend every Saturday night at 
the ale-house. After they were taught better they spent 
that night in prayer. Mr. Wesley, hearing of it, ordered 
it first to be once a month, at the full of the moon, then 
once a quarter, and recommended it to all his societies." * 

Wesley's account of the watch-meeting is : "I was in- 
formed that several persons in Kingswood frequently met 
together at the school, and, when they could spare the time, 
spent the greater part of the night in prayer and praise 
and thanksgiving. Some advised me to put an end to 
this ; but upon weighing the thing thoroughly, and com- 
paring it with the practice of the ancient Christians, I 
could see no cause to forbid it. Rather, I believed it 
might be made of more general use, so I sent them word 
6 I designed to watch with them on the Friday nearest the 
full of the moon, that w T e might have light thither and 
back again.' I gave public notice of this the Sunday be- 

* Myles's " Chronological History." 



232 



Centennial History of 



fore, and withal that I intended to preach, desiring they, 
and they only, would meet me there who could do it with- 
out prejudice to their business or families. On Friday 
abundance of people came. I began preaching between 
eight and nine, and we continued a little beyond the noon 
of night, singing, praying, and praising God." 

This useful institution was adopted and frequently used 
by the new Church, with such satisfactory results that its 
observance is still maintained, though only on the last 
night of the calendar year. 

William Colbert describes a watch-night on Harford 
Circuit, Maryland. Sunday, November 30, 1791, he says : 
"At night we had a watch-night at frieud Grover's. 
John Baxley preached on Malachi iii, 18. Archibald 
M'Creery and I gave exhortation after him. Ford Barns 
prayed. We had a shout. One woman professed to get 
converted, and a backslider got mightily shaken." Colbert 
briefly describes a watch-night in Pennsylvania, which oc- 
curred on the 31st of May, 1798. " We held, 1 ' he says, " a 
watch-night at Thomas Rutter's. Stokes preached from 
Mark xiii, 37. Higbee gave an exhortation after him. 
Our friends got so high that I could scarcely be heard. 
When meeting was over I spoke to a young woman who 
had been turned out of society. She appeared to be af- 
fected ; got engaged in prayer, and professed to get relief 
to her mind — to be happy." At the Conference of Octo- 
ber, 1796, in Philadelphia, a watch-meeting was held. Mr. 
Colbert says : " Friday, 14, was a day of fasting and prayer 
before the ordination of the deacons and elders. At night 
we had a watch-night in Bethel. Anning Owen preached 
on Romans viii, 9. I gave an exhortation. A friend, by 
name of Swing, spoke after me. William Early spoke 
after him, and Seely Bunn concluded the meeting, which 
I trust was profitable." 

John Haggerty held a watch-night at Annapolis, on 
the 29th of January, 1789, at the commencement of the 



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awakening there. He says : " We had a watch-night on 
Thursday evening, and some got alarmed." From that 
time the revival powerfully progressed. The next night 
" the work of conversion," he says, " began in a way I 
little expected. I met the' class of young men and re- 
ceived three into class. When class-meeting was over I 
heard a poor soul groaning and praying. We went down 
stairs and found in the passage a black woman in great 
distress. We began exhorting her, and then proceeded to 
singing and prayer. The noise called in others ; another 
black woman was soon on her knees beside the former, 
and God was pleased to set both their souls at liberty; 
then an old man, then a member whom I had joined that 
night, and then the man of the house in which we were, 
so that about nine o'clock we had many converted." We 
have heretofore seen Uaggerty instrumental in the con- 
version of a merchant, Thomas Morrell, who became a 
leader in the ministry of the young Church ; we now be- 
hold him, with equal joy, leading poor black women to Jesus. 

Ignatius Pigman came to Haggerty's help and preached 
" a sweet, smooth, edifying sermon." When he closed Uag- 
gerty rose and began to sing. Then he exhorted. " The 
power of God," he says, " came in a wonderful manner 
into my soul, and I think we had one of the loudest shouts 
I ever remember to have heard. I requested as many as 
had a desire to come forth in the great congregation and 
join the society. Twenty-four, one after another, gave 
me their names, most of whom had found peace." 

The class-meeting was a powerful auxiliary of revivals 
in early Methodism. When converts multiplied the class- 
room became a center of thrilling interest. Mourners were 
led to the class-meeting to find the way of peace, and 
converts went there to learn the way of the Lord more 
perfectly. So Haggerty, in the revival which he was lead- 
ing in Annapolis, says : " Our class-meetings are exceed- 
ingly lively." 



234 



Centennial History of 



Jonathan Forrest now appears upon the scene. He 
was then in middle life and, with Valentine Cook, was 
traveling Calvert Circuit, Maryland. Forrest " met the 
young men," says Haggerty, " and five of them struggled 
into life." The Sunday, Haggerty says, " was a day to 
be remembered by many, and especially by myself. Such 
transporting joy filled my soul that I only wanted wings 
to fly and rest forever with my Lord and Saviour." In 
the morning, he says, " many were cut to the heart ; in 
the afternoon we had another shout ; five or six were set 
at liberty, and many spoke feelingly at the love-feast in 
the evening." 

In the midst of his ecstasies and triumphs persecution 
threatened this man of God. Haggerty writes : " They 
have banished me out of town by report, and have cut off 
my ears. My heart pities and prays for them." 

Dr. Coke was at Annapolis in 1789, and says : "After my 
last prayer on Sunday, the third of May, the congregation 
began to pray and praise aloud in a most astonishing man- 
ner. At first I felt some reluctance to enter into the bus- 
iness ; but soon the tears began to flow, and I think I have 
seldom found a more comforting or strengthening time. 
This praying and praising aloud is a common thing 
throughout Yirginia and Maryland. What shall we say? 
Souls are awakened and converted by multitudes ; and the 
work is surely a genuine work, if there be a genuine work 
of God upon earth. Whether there be wildfire in it or 
not, I do most earnestly wish that there was such a work 
at this present time in England: In one meeting in this 
State we have reason to believe that twenty souls received 
full sanctification ; and it is common to have from twenty 
to fifty souls justified in a day in one place." 

The work was very extensive during this year — 1788-9 
— on Calvert Circuit under Forrest and Cook. Haggerty 
says : " On Tuesday I went to supply Brother Forrest's 
place at the head of South River. As soon as I began to 



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235 



speak the Lord applied his word, and sinners began to 
tremble. All the members in society got a fresh spring 
for heaven, and such a time they have not had for years." 
The revival on Forrest's Circuit was indeed wonderful. 
Nicholas Snethen refers to it as " the great revival." The 
numbers converted remind one of the great ingathering 
on Amelia Circuit, in Virginia, under Hope Hull, during 
the pentecostal season of 1787. The increase of members 
on the circuit of which Forrest had charge was for the 
year above five hundred, more than three fourths of whom 
were white persons. 

, There was also a glorious work in Baltimore in 1789. 
Asbury was there in May, and says that " multitudes came 
to hear, and great cries were heard among the people, who 
continued together until three o'clock in the morning. 
Many souls professed to be convicted, converted, and 
sanctified." 

This was the occasion of the Conference at Baltimore, 
though Asbury does not mention that fact. Coke does, 
however. He says : " Our first Conference for the State 
of Maryland began in Baltimore on Tuesday, the fourth 
[of May, 1789,] in which we were all unanimous and 
truly affectionate. On Wednesday evening, after I had 
preached, and Mr. Asbury exhorted, the congregation 
began to pray and praise aloud, and continued so to do till 
two o'clock in the morning. Out of a congregation f two 
thousand people, I suppose two or three hundred were en- 
gaged at the same time in praising God, praying for the 
conviction and conversion of sinners, or exhorting those 
around them with the utmost vehemence ; and hundreds 
more were engaged in wrestling prayer either for their 
own conversion or sanctification. The great noise of the 
people soon brought a multitude to see what was going on, 
for there was no room in the church, which has been lately 
built, and will hold a larger congregation than any other 
of our churches in the States. One of our elders was the 



236 



Centennial History of 



means that night of the conversion of seven poor penitents 
within his little circle in less than fifteen minutes. Such 
was the zeal of many that a tolerable company attended 
the preaching at five the next morning, notwithstanding 
the late hour at which they parted. Next evening Mr. 
Asbury preached, and again the congregation began as be- 
fore, and continued as loud and as long as the former even- 
ing. This praying and praising aloud has been common 
in Baltimore for a considerable time, notwithstanding our 
congregation in this town was for many years before 
one of the calmest and most critical upon the continent. 
Many also of our elders who were the most connected 
and sedate of our preachers have entered with all their 
hearts into this work. And it must be allowed that gra- 
cious and wonderful has been the change, our greatest ene- 
mies themselves being the judges, that has been wrought 
on multitudes on whom this work began at those wonder- 
ful seasons." * 

Concerning the revival in Baltimore, the Rev. Ezekiel 
Cooper wrote, August 17, and September 10, 1798 : " The 
work began many months ago, which to the present is as 
lively as ever. God is pouring out his Spirit very wonder- 
fully indeed, to the admiration of beholding and listening 
thousands. We have conversions every week, and at times 
every day for days together. We have had from one to 
twenty and thirty converted in a meeting, and once, I be- 
lieve, as many as fifty. We have likewise received ten, 
twenty, thirty, and forty members a day. Many hard, 
stout-hearted men and women have been brought in bitter 
agonies to cry to God for mercy, till the Lord has filled 
them with love and peace. Some who had been obstinate 
opposers have felt the mighty power to their salvation. 

" The people of God rejoice in this work and give glory 
to the Lord, while the careless and ungodly stand amazed, 
as if thunderstruck, and a general panic arrests many as- 

* Coke's "Journal," pp. 109, 110. 



American Methodism. 



237 



tonished spectators. Some are violently offended, and are 
wicked enough, as in our Lord's day, to call it the work of 
the devil — madness, disorder, and delusion ; others seem 
to pity us, and pretend they fear we shall ruin our repu- 
tation. Others are very extravagant in drawing ground- 
less conclusions, holding up the most enormous conse- 
quences which will ensue if these people go on. But all 
this don't deter us from pursuing the best of causes — to 
wit, that of sinners' conversion to God." 

The quarterly meeting in those early times was a great 
agency for promoting revivals. Indeed, almost all the pe- 
culiar arrangements of Methodism aided to bring sinners 
to God. But the quarterly meeting, especially when the 
presiding elder was a quickening and awakening preach- 
er, was a time of transcendent interest. The love-feast, 
the sermons by the presiding elder and others, the exhorta- 
tions, and the other services, together with the throngs in at- 
tendance, gave a striking impressiveness to such occasions. 

On the seventh and eighth of August, in the year 1789, 
a quarterly meeting was held in Baltimore. Asbury was 
there, and says, " it was a wonder-working time." Eze- 
kiel Cooper was also there, and he wrote that " the follow- 
ing week Satan's kingdom suffered great loss." 

Mr. Cooper says that " the first day of the quarterly 
meeting we had a melting time. Many cried bitterly for 
mercy. Sunday, the second day of the quarterly meeting 
was, I think, as awful and glorious a day as ever I saw. 
In the love-feast, at eight o'clock, we truly had a little Pen- 
tecost, and dwelt, as it were, in the suburbs of heaven. 
Glory appeared to rest on every countenance, while one 
after another feelingly declared what God had done for 
their souls. I hardly ever felt so happy before. My soul 
was ready to fly to the celestial world. O what a shower 
of grace came upon us. The place was truly awful because 
of God's presence. Souls were justified and sanctified by 
the power and virtue of blood divine. 



238 



Centennial History of 



" In public preaching the word was so accompanied by 
the Holy Ghost, that there were few but felt its mighty 
power. Some of the most unlikely to turn to God were 
brought to tremble and weep. At night we had a great 
outcry, and the deep of many hearts thoroughly broken 
up. We broke up on Sunday night very late, many being 
converted." Asbury says that at this quarterly meeting 
"fifty or sixty souls appeared to be brought to God." 
Cooper adds : " Some were two, three, and four hours on 
their knees, and on the floor, in bitter cries and agonies for 
mercy, till they could rejoice in God their Saviour. What 
power ! What awe rested upon the people. 

" Some, after they went home, could not sleep, but wept 
and prayed all night. But the greatest time was still to 
come. The next day was such a time as I know not how to 
describe, so as to give you a just idea of it. The Lord took 
the cause into -his own hand, and showed us that he could 
and would work for his glory and the salvation of souls. 

" I was sent for early in the morning to visit a respect- 
able young lady who had not closed her eyes the whole 
night. When I went she was weeping and praying in the 
arms of a young woman who had lately found peace. My 
heart was much affected at seeing her penitential sorrow. 
Her cry was : £ Lord, save, or I perish ! ' I exhorted her 
to believe, and then sung and prayed with her. She con- 
tinued thus for several hours, when a number of friends, 
full of faith, were collected to supplicate Heaven in her 
behalf. The Lord broke into her soul, and she lifted her 
voice with others in loud praises to God. 

" This is only a small part of this day's work. About 
ten o'clock in the morning a number of mourners got 
together in a private house, where the work of conversion 
began ; first one, then another, found the Lord. At length 
some struggled into holiness, so that there were many con- 
versions and some sanctified. The news spread. The 
people collected till the house and street were filled with 



American Methodism. 



239 



numerous believers and a wondering multitude. Some 
came through mere curiosity to see what was going for- 
ward, and got convicted and converted before they left the 
house. One young man came up and began to make di- 
version of it, ' Surely,' said he, 'the people are out of their 
senses.' He drew nigh the window. At length the power 
laid hold on him. In he came, and fell among the others, 
and cried to God till the Lord blessed him ; and he still 
rejoices in God his Saviour. This continued till dark. 
We then repaired to the church and presently had it full, 
though no previous appointment had been made for meet- 
ing that night. We did not break up until two o'clock the 
next morning, which made sixteen hours without inter- 
mission, excepting while we went from the private house 
to the preaching house. Some would be two, three, and 
four hours in constant struggles under the burden of guilt, 
presently would get delivered, arise, and praise and give 
glory to God ; enough to pierce any hearts but hearts of 
stone. Many hard -hear ted opposers are conquered at last, 
and are now engaged in seeking their salvation. Tuesday 
was like unto Monday, though there were not so many 
conversions. The meeting began at eight in the morning 
and continued till ten at night. Wednesday and Thurs- 
day the work went on. I cannot, with any certainty, tell 
how many were brought in that week, though they were 
many, and they still continue coming. 

" Religion is the general topic now in town among all 
kinds of people ; some aspersing, some wondering, others 
inquiring, rejoicing, etc. The people appear panic struck ; 
and our reverend neighbors are warning their flocks to 
take care of these wild people, the Methodists ; but the 
people have sense enough I trust to judge for themselves." * 

* Letter of the Uev. Ezekiel Cooper, dated September 10, 1789, and pub- 
lished in Wesley's " Arminian Magazine," August, 1790. Also a letter of 
Mr. Cooper, dated August 17, 1789, and published in 1851 in the "Christian 
Advocate and Journal." 



240 



Centennial History of 



An old Methodist wrote in 1836 that the revival in 
Baltimore in 1789 was "attended by considerable noise, 
which alarmed the old members of the Church. Many 
consultations were held in presence of the writer ; and the 
general conclusion was that such disorders had never been 
witnessed among Methodists, and that several of the most 
noisy had no claim to singular piety. It was granted that 
the feelings of an awakened sinner and those of a young 
convert might possibly be beyond their control ; yet even 
these up to that time had never disturbed the congrega- 
tion. The universal conclusion, however, was that they 
should not publicly oppose the shouting, lest while they 
plucked up the tares they might destroy the wheat also ; 
but that they would privately discourage it. This appar- 
ent disorder was to them a new thing, and might, in their 
estimation, do much mischief. It was not old-fashioned 
Methodism." * 

This was the greatest revival that had ever occurred in 
Baltimore. Asbury, in his Journal of September, 1789, 
says: "Many of the children of Methodists are the happy 
subjects of this glorious revival. We have more members 
in Baltimore town and Point than in any city or town on 
the continent besides." The impulse of that revival has 
been seen in the great growth and influence of Method- 
ism in the city that witnessed the organization of the 
Church. 

The revival was also general in Maryland. At Phil- 
lips's " the fire," says Asbury, " spread throughout the 
whole neighborhood." At Liberty " the Almighty," he 
says, " is working among the people." At Seneca, he ex- 
claims, " O what hath God wrought ! Many precious 
souls have been brought to the knowledge of salvation." 
At Eowles's he records " fifty or sixty souls profess to have 
been brought to God in a few weeks. We had a shout, and 
a soul converted to God." At Daniel Evans's, he writes, 

*" Christian Advocate and Journal," July 22, 1836. 



Ameeicax Methodism. 



211 



" The Lord has now made bare his arm, and brought in 
forty or fifty young people." At Bush Forest Chapel 
Asbury says, " The Lord has visited this neighborhood, and 
I suppose, from report, fifty souls have been converted to 
God." Ezekiel Cooper writes from Baltimore : " The 
country circuits are flaming. The preachers are much 
alive ; the fire runs as in stubble. On the other side of the 
Chesapeake Bay there is a mighty work ; hundreds, I hear 
of, in different parts, turning to God. I know not but 
these earthquakes of the Lord's power and love will soon 
run through the continent. O Lord, hasten the time ! " 

Thus the new Church, in the region where, at the begin- 
ning of 1785, it flung its banner to the sky, is seen in 1789 
in hot and victorious battle. It boldly pressed the enemy 
and assailed his strongholds of prejudice and sin. From 
various quarters were heard the shoutings of ransomed vic- 
tors, and the glad trophies were a great multitude. 

Not only in the south-land were the triumphs glorious, 
but also northward. Indeed, Asbury, on October 3, 1789, 
wrote to Morrell: "The Lord is glorious through the con- 
tinent. In Baltimore, the work goes on rapidly indeed ; 
we have eight hundred in society. I expect an earthquake 
of the Lord's power will go from north to south, and from 
east to west. But few circuits where the work does not 
revive." 

Early in January, 1790, a flame of revival flashed out in 
the city of New York. Thomas Morrell, who was sta- 
tioned there then, says that on the fourth, it "began in 
the prayer-meeting, and on the twelfth it broke out in the 
church." - He says that " perhaps about four hundred were 
converted in about eight weeks." There were two hundred 
accessions during the revival, and subsequently many others 
joined. Morrell says : " From this revival we may date 
the prosperity of our Church in New York." Thus, while 
Haggerty was triumphing in Baltimore, Morrell, who was 
by him won to Christ a few years before in New Jersey, 
11 



24:2 



C EXTENTS! AL HlSTOEY OF 



was shouting victory at the head of the conquering host 
in Xew York. The work in the metropolis was not only 
great, it was also enduring. Four years later Morreil wrote 
concerning the converts which that revival gave to the 
Xew York church: "Very few of them fell away. Most 
of them continue faithful.'' 

Xew Jersey also received a powerful religious impulse. 
In the southern half of the State " there was a most won- 
derful work of grace/' In Salem County alone hundreds 
were converted. The Rev. G. A. Raybold says that 
when he was quite young one of the preachers gave him 

an account in part of that great work of God." The in- 
crease in yew Jersey was over six hundred for the year. 

One of the preachers who labored in the great awaken- 
ing in Xew Jersey this vear — 17S9 — was Sylvester Hutch- 
inson — a son of thunder. He was strong in faith, but small 
in stature. TThile stopping at a lodging- place in his Sa- 
lem Circuit a couple of young ladies attempted to amuse 
themselves by bantering him upon his small size. He 
suddenly lifted his head from a reclining posture and 
slowly and solemnly exclaimed : 

" My thoughts on awful subjects roll, 
Damnation and the dead : 
What horrors seize a guilty soul 
Upon a dying "bed ! " 

The words recited by the preacher, and his manner, af- 
fected the young women so deeply that they rushed from 
his presence weeping. Xo rest or peace did they find 
until they obtained the only balm that can heal the broken 
in heart. 

A man overtook Hutchinson on the road and sought to 
enffa.o*e him in conversation. " How do vou do ' TThich 
way are you traveling i " he asked. 

4i I.*' said the youthful preacher. " do the Lord's 
work. You do the devil's. I am on the way to heaven. 
You are joiner to hell, where fire and brimstone are 



American Methodism. 



243 



the fuel, and the smoke of torment ascendeth for ever and 
ever." 

The interlocutor was startled, and, putting spurs to his 
horse, rode away ; but at the next meeting he was found 
among the penitents, weeping, and became an eminent dis- 
ciple.* 

In June, 1790, Asbury writes : "Jersey flames with 
religion ; some hundreds are converted." 

Thus in the period between the Conferences of 1787 and 
those of 1790 — three years — we see the flame of revival 
sweep from Carolina to New York. Amid mighty pray- 
ing, masterful preaching, powerful exhorting, singing, 
weeping, wailings, and shoutings, the work of God rushed 
like a tempest. By day and by night, in preaching houses 
and in barns, in the field and in the cottage, in the street, 
on the highway, and in the woods, the revival swept on. 
Opposers and persecutors, whatever their prowess, were as 
helpless in its presence as giants in the rapids of Niagara. 
The cry of the reviler was often turned into the wail of the 
penitent, and the curse of the persecutor into the shout of 
the saved. In that marvelous and eternally memorable pe- 
riod American Methodism was baptized of God for its world- 
wide mission of spiritual conquest. The Methodist Episco- 
pal Church entered upon that three-years' period of mighty 
conflict and mightier victory feeble in numbers and in hu- 
man resources. Her total membership numbered less than 
twenty-six thousand, and her ministry but one hundred 
and thirty-three. She came out of it ablaze with shekinai 
splendors, with a membership of fifty-seven thousand six 
hundred and thirty-one, and with a ministry two hundred 
and twenty-seven strong. At the close of that wonderful 
epoch, the net increase of members was greater by nearly 
six thousand than was the whole membership at its be- 
ginning, after twenty-one years of Methodist effort in the 
United States. 

* Raybold's " Methodism in West Jersey." 



Centennial History of 



The increase of the year 1789 alone was glorious. It 
was found, says Thomas Ware, " at the close of the sev- 
eral Conferences for 1790 that there had been gathered 
into the fold more than fourteen thousand, a greater 
number than had crowned the labors of any previous 
year." 

When, five years previously, the Church was organized, 
the latest report gave less than fifteen thousand members. 
Now, palpitating with victory, the Methodist Episcopal 
Church stood forth the wonder of the nation, with a val- 
orous host of well-nigh threescore thousand members mar- 
shaled under her triumphant banner. Henceforth she is 
to march at the head of the evangelical forces of the con- 
tinent, and to be a chief agent in spreading the Gospel 
over the world. The secret of this sudden and great suc- 
cess was power from on high. The words of Asbury, 
uttered ten years before, were now strikingly fulfilled : 
" The Methodists will grow because they preach growing 
doctrines." 



Amekican Methodism. 



245 



CHAPTER XII. 

FRANCIS ASBURY. 

FRANCIS ASBURY was one of the greatest of relig- 
ious leaders. He was the chief founder, organizer, and 
apostle of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United 
States. No complete history of his life and labors has ever 
been published. Therefore the Church now, nearly seventy 
years after his death, scarcely comprehends how gigantic 
was his ecclesiastical stature. Abundant facts, some of 
which it is our grateful privilege to relate, show that this 
captain of the Lord's host is fit to stand in the company 
of Paul, of Luther, and of Wesley, as one of the most 
masterful souls of all the Christian ages. 

Francis Asbury was bora in Staffordshire, England, 
August 20, 1745. Grace shaped his youth and gave inspi- 
ration to his subsequent life. At the age of fifteen he 
was brought to Jesus Christ, who, he says, " graciously 
justified my guilty soul through faith in his precious 
blood." He was charmed with the beauty of holiness. 
He says : " About sixteen I experienced a marvelous 
display of the grace of God, which some might think 
was full sanctification, and was, indeed, very happy, though 
in an ungodly family. At about seventeen I began to 
hold public meetings, and between seventeen and eighteen 
to exhort and preach. When about twenty-one I went 
through Staffordshire and Gloucestershire in the place of 
a traveling preacher ; and the next year through Bedford- 
shire, Sussex, etc. In 1769 I was appointed assistant in 
Northamptonshire, and the next year traveled in Wiltshire. 
September 3, 1771, I embarked for America." 

The ship which brought that young missionary hither 



21G 



Centennial IIistohy of 



bore a freight far richer than that of the ship which car- 
ried Caesar. In his person were embodied, beyond what 
any mortal could then have suspected, the moral and spirit- 
ual destinies of the continent to which he sailed. He came 
as a warrior of the Cross, to build a kingdom not of this 
world. For nearly forty-five years he was to travel, 
preach, plan, and execute for the highest welfare of the 
great land that was to become so rapidly populous, and of 
the Republic whose foundations were soon to be laid. He 
was to be the chief architect of a Church whose walls 
were to rise under his wise and vigilant superintendence, 
and whose vast growth and influence were to be insepa- 
rably connected with the fortunes of one of the greatest 
and the freest of the nations. 

It was a fortunate day for the cause of evangelical re- 
ligion in America when, October 27, 1771, the youthful 
Asbury, escaping the perils of a treacherous sea, stepped 
upon the shore at Philadelphia. Henceforth, till "in age 
and feebleness extreme " he should " cease at once to work 
and live," he was to be the most influential instrument of 
the most successful and beneficent religious movement of 
the western hemisphere. 

"What were Asbury's qualifications for his great mission, 
and how was that mission by him fulfilled ? 

He had, in an eminent degree, the chief qualification of 
a spiritual leader, namely, love to God and love for souls. 
Well might he have said, with Paul, " The love of Christ 
constraineth " me. The language of the holy psalmist was 
that of his adoring heart : " Whom have I in heaven but 
thee ? and there is none upon earth I desire besides thee." 
This was not a fitful feeling, it was the steady, living ex- 
perience of Asbury for fifty-five years. He toiled not 
alone because it was his duty to labor, but because he de- 
lighted to do the will of Him whom his soul loved. 
" God," he writes, " is with me, and has all my heart. I 
am not sensible of any thing contrary to humble, thankful, 




W:SBOF CO?' USE METHODIST J5J?f3COPA L CHUfLCSf. 



American Methodism. 



247 



constant love to God, pitying love for poor sinners, and 
melting, sympathetic love for the dear ministers and people 
of God." In June, 1774, he wrote: "My heart seems 
wholly devoted to God, and he favors me with power over 
all outward and inward sin. My affections appear to be 
quite weaned from all terrestrial objects. Some people, if 
they felt as I do at present, would, perhaps, conclude that 
they were saved from all indwelling sin. O, my God, save 
me and keep me every moment of my life ! " 

His love for God and souls was stronger than his love 
for the dearest earthly objects. To come as a missionary to 
this new and strange land he parted with father and mother. 
He was their only boy — their only living child. They 
were very dear to him ; but Christ was dearer. When he 
had been here nearly nine years he exclaimed, " O what 
must my dear parents feel for my absence ! Ah, surely 
nothing in this world should keep me from them but the 
care of souls ; and nothing else could excuse me before 
God!" He preached and travailed for souls. In Balti- 
more, in the winter of 1774, he wrote : " My heart was op- 
pressed with inexpressible feelings for the inhabitants of 
Baltimore. I am pressed under them as a cart full of 
sheaves, and would rather be employed in the most servile 
offides than preach to them, if it were not from a sense of 
duty to God, and a desire to be instrumental in saving their 
souls. If honor and worldly gain were held out as motives 
to this painful work, they would to me appear lighter than 
vanity. But, Lord, thou knowest my motives and my ends ; 
O prosper thou the work of my heart and my hands." 

In the summer of 1775 Asbury speaks of interruption 
in his services " by the clamor of arms, and preparations 
for war." He then says : " My business is to be more in- 
tensely devoted to God ; then 

" : The rougher our way, the shorter our stay; 
The tempests that rise 
Shall gloriously hurry our souls to the skies.' " 



248 



Centennial History of 



How earnestly and fully he was devoted to God, and 
to the work of God, is shown by a record in his Jour- 
nal nearly four years later. He says : " After preaching 
had to ride twelve miles for my dinner. In this our labor 
we have to encounter hunger, heat, and many restless 
nights, with mosquitoes, unwholesome provisions, and bad 
water. But all this is for souls. Were it for silver I 
should require a great sum ; but the Lord is not unright- 
eous to forget our labor of love, and our reward is with 
him." 

Asbury lived in communion with God. To a degree, 
perhaps, seldom ever equaled, he was a man of prayer. 
Continually traveling amid forests, he became much accus- 
tomed to pray in woody solitudes. " The shady groves," 
he says, " are witnesses to my retired and sweetest hours. 
To sit and melt, and bow alone before the Lord, while the 
melody of the birds warbles from tree to tree — how de- 
lightful." From New England to Georgia, and thence to 
Ohio, the forests were his closet. In the summer of 1780 
he makes this record : " After dinner I was alone in the 
woods an hour." On March 27, 1787, he wrote: "I went 
alone into the woods and had sweet converse with God." 
April 27, 1788 : " I went alone into the woods, and found 
my soul profitably solitary in sweet meditation and prayer." 
April 23, 1792 : "I found it good to get alone in the woods 
and converse with God." In August, of the same year, he 
writes, "I was pleased to enjoy the privilege of retiring 
alone to the cooling sylvan shades in frequent converse 
with my best Friend." In April, 1795, he says : " My com- 
fort was in the woods with the Lord." 

Sometimes he could not readily reach the woods, nor 
yet find retirement where he lodged. He, however, would 
find some way to enjoy his devotions. In June, 1782, he 
writes : " I spoke to about one hundred poor people, whom 
I exhorted to seek that they might find. After dinner I 
retired and sat down on a log beside the water for nearly 



American Methodism. 



249 



two hours and had sweet communion with God. It is not 
the place, nor the posture of the body, that constitutes the 
real worshiper ; yet at proper times and convenient places 
it is good to kneel before the Lord our Maker." 

The subject of his prayers was, first of all, his own spirit- 
ual need. He hungered and thirsted after righteousness 
and sought to be filled. Thus on August 1, 1TTT, he says : 
" My soul was on stretch for a greater degree of holiness, 
and deeper communion with God. 

" ' Thee my spirit grasps to meet, 
This my one, my ceaseless prayer, 

Make, make my heart thy seat, 
set up thy kingdom there.' " 

About a year later he writes : " Seven times a day do I 
bow my knees, to utter my complaints before him and to 
implore an increase of his grace. But, after all and in the 
midst of all, I can feelingly say, I am an unprofitable serv- 
ant. But, though unworthy, utterly unworthy, I am blest 
with the sweet gales of God's love. Blessed breezes! 
how they cheer and refresh my drooping soul ! " 

He sought to be holy. His Journal attests how he 
groaned after holiness. Monday, August 4, 1783, he says: 
" Eose early to pour out my soul to God. I want to live 
to him. To be holy in heart, in life, and in conversation 
— this is my mark, my prize, my all — to be, in my measure, 
like God." At another time he wrote : " I hope yet to 
endure to the end, but must be more sanctified : 

" 'Lord, hasten the hour, thy kingdom bring in, 
And give me the power to live without sin.' " 

On another occasion he exclaimed : " O, my God ! when 
shall I be established in purity ? " Again he says : " I am 
still seeking full and final salvation." At another time he 
exclaims : " O for faith to be saved from all sin ! " Soon after 
he writes : " Think I am more given up than ever I was 
in my life. I see the need of living near to God, to be 
able to preach the travails of God's people, to get freedom 



250 



Centennial History of 



and love to bear with sinners, and to deal faithfully. I 
am laboring for God, and my soul is pressing after full sal- 
vation." His joy, too, was sometimes full, his realizations 
of God were great. He says at one time : " Last Monday 
night it appeared to me that I had as deep a sense of God 
as though I could see, touch, handle, and feel him." At 
another time he said : " I was melted and filled with God." 

In writing to Mr. Wesley from North Carolina, March 
20, 1784, Mr. Asbury refers to his Christian experience 
thus : " My soul is daily fed, and I find abundant sweet- 
ness in God. Sometimes I am ready to say he hath puri- 
fied my heart, and then again I feel and fear. Upon the 
whole I hope I am more spiritual than ever I have been in 
time past. I see the necessity of preaching a full and 
present salvation from all sin. Whenever I do this I feel 
myself, and so do also my hearers. I find it is good to use 
frequent, fervent prayer, without which a man cannot con- 
tinue qualified to preach the Gospel." * 

Asbury had trials, too, often severe, w T hich he took to the 
mercy-seat. Those trials were various. Sometimes they 
were from the world, sometimes from the flesh, sometimes 
from those who should rather have given him comfort. 
Amid them all he found great consolation in prayer. " I 
often," he says, " have it whispered in my ear what certain 
folks are pleased to say of my being an Englislnnan.f How 
can I help that ? I am not ashamed of it. But I am seek- 
ing souls and Zion's glory. Heaven is my country. 

,( 1 There is my house and portion fair ; 
My treasure and my heart are there, 

And my abiding home ; 
For me my elder brethren stay, 
Aud angels beckon me away, 

And Jesus bids me come." 
* " Armiuian Magazine," London, 1786. 

f Dr. Bangs, in his sermon preached at the opening of the John Street 
Church, January 4, 1818, says of Asbury, that "the troubles produced by 
the war, the jealousy excited against all Englishmen, rendered his situation 
extremely unpleasant." See also page 100. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



251 



" He received once an anonymous letter of abuse. He had 
just come from his knees in the closet ; he forthwith re- 
turned to his knees." At another time he writes : " Great 
and fiery trials ; great succeeding consolations." 

Asbury also prayed for guidance and protection in his 
great travels and labors. For example, in June, 1783, 
he writes : " I went alone to the silent woods and my soul 
was much melted in prayer, entreating the Lord to go 
with me and preserve me through all my weary journeys." 
Those journeys were perilous as well as wearying, and he 
felt the need of Almighty protection. At one time he 
writes : " Riding after preaching, my chaise was shot 
through ; but the Lord preserved my person." Bishop 
Whatcoat describes, in his Journal, a journey he took 
with Bishop Asbury on his first visit to Kentucky, in 1790. 
He says they "passed through the wilderness about one 
hundred and fifty miles. The first day we came to the 
new station. Here we lay under cover, but some of the 
company had to watch all night. The next two nights 
we watched by turns — some watching while others lay 
down. As there was not a good understanding between 
the savages and the white people, we traveled in jeopardy ; 
but I think I never traveled with more solemn awe and 
serenity of mind. As we fed our horses three times a 
day, so we had prayer three times." 

The subjects of Asbury's prayers included not only his 
own spiritual needs, protection, and guidance, but also his 
ministry, the Church, the preachers, his parents, the 
country, the world. The mighty prayers of this man of 
God, which he offered in America every day and every 
night for almost forty-five years, are yet descending in 
benedictions upon the Church and the country he so 
greatly loved. When the chariot of God bore him home 
he left to American Methodism, and to America as well, 
the legacy of his prayers. Once more let us glance at 
Asbury on his knees. 



252 



Centennial History of 



In September, 1783, he writes: "I find it expedient to 
spend an hour in prayer for myself alone, and an hour each 
morning and evening for all the preachers and people." 

As a soldier of Christ he esteemed the closet as his 
fortress. It was the arsenal whence he drew his armor. 
He says : " It is plain to me the devil will let us read 
always if we will not pray. But prayer is the sword of 
the preacher, the life of the Christian, the terror of hell, 
and the devil's plague." In the last days of 1776 he said : 
" My present practice is to set apart about three hours out 
of every twenty-four for private prayer." In 1777 he 
wrote : " I have given myself to private prayer seven 
times a day, and found my heart much drawn out in 
behalf of the preachers, the societies, especially the new 
places, and my aged parents. And while thus exercised 
my soul has been both quickened and purified." A few 
days later he records : " Much temptation has urged me to 
much prayer, so that I have often retired as often as ten 
or twelve times a day to call upon my God." A little 
more than a year later he says : u I purposed in my own 
mind to spend ten minutes out of every hour, when awake, 
in the duty of prayer." After nearly another year had 
passed he writes : " Though I now pray not less than ten 
times a day, yet I find I have need to pray without ceas- 
ing." Some months later he says : " Am resolved to spend 
an hour in devotion before I leave the room each morning. 
I am more than ever pressed with the weight of my work 
and the worth of souls. Ah ! what is preaching without 
living to God? It is a daily unction we want, that the 
word may be like a hammer and fire from our mouths, to 
break hearts and kindle life and fire." Later still Asbury 
exclaims : " I am for attending my twelve times of prayer, 
and resisting the devil steadfastly in the faith. I am much 
humbled before the Lord. A blessing I want and will not 
cease crying to the Lord for it." Yet later he writes : " I 
see the need of returning to my twelve times of prayer. 



American Methodism. 



253 



I have been hindered and interrupted by pains and fevers." 
After all this he exclaims : "I think my soul momently 
pants after more of God." 

The Rev. John Chalmers was probably the first who 
was styled a traveling companion of Bishop Asbury, and 
he witnessed how he prayed. Mr. Chalmers wrote : u I 
was in early life the traveling companion, for a short time, 
of the senior Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
the venerable and Rev. Francis Asbury. About the years 
1788, 1789, 1 was with him not only in the pulpit, congre- 
gation, and sacramental table, but often in the closet, where 
I have witnessed his agony in secret, and long stay. I 
wondered why he remained so long on his knees, when I 
had prayed for all I thought I needed for myself and the 
world." * 

The Rev. Joseph Travis says: "I knew him to remain 
on his knees an hour or more in private prayer." The 
Rev. Thomas Smith made a journey with Bishop As- 
bury. He says: "At eleven o'clock he came to let me know 
that he was about to retire, and told me to be sure and wake 
him at break of day. When I entered his room the next 
morning with a candle he smiled, and said, ' Thomas, it is 
hard burning both ends of the candle at once.' He referred 
to his being late to bed, and rising before day. Before 
the sun was up we were on our way, having forty miles to 
ride by eleven o'clock, then preach, and ride twenty miles 
more, as we were pressed for time to meet the Conference. 
We left Milford the next morning at break of day for 
Wilmington. It is surprising how much time he devoted 
to secret prayer throughout these long journeys."f The 
Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, in his Semi-centennial Sermon, 
said of Asbury : " He was great in prayer." 

* The Rev. John Chalmers, in "Christian Advocate and Journal," New 
York, March 6, 1829. 

f" Experience and Gospel Labors of Rev. Thomas Smith." By Rev. 
David Dailey. New York, 1848. 



254 



Centennial History of 



The Rev. Henry Boehm was present on an occasion 
when Drs. Rush and Physic, of Philadelphia, called upon 
Bishop Asbury! They had ministered to him in his phys- 
ical sufferings, and " as they were separating, the Bishop 
inquired what he should pay for their professional serv- 
ices. They answered : ' Nothing, only an interest in your 
prayers.' Said Bishop Asbury : 'As I do not like to be in 
debt, we will pray now ; ' and he knelt down and offered 
a most impressive prayer that God would bless and reward 
them for their kindness to him." * 

His gift of prayer in public was great. In this he seems 
to have surpassed all others. "Had he," says Ware, "been 
equally eloquent in preaching, he would have excited uni- 
versal admiration as a pulpit orator. But when he was 
heard for the first time the power and unction with which 
he prayed would naturally so raise the expectations of his 
auditors that they were liable to be disappointed with his 
preaching ; for, although he always preached well, in his 
sermons he seldom, if ever, reached that high and compre- 
hensive flow of thought and expression — that expansive 
and appropriate diction — which always characterized his 
prayers. This may be accounted for, in part at least, from 
the fact stated by the late Freeborn Garrettson, in preach- 
ing his funeral sermon. ' He prayed,' said Garrettson, 
'the best, and he prayed the most, of any man I ever knew. 
His long-continued rides prevented his preaching as often 
as some others, but he could find a throne of grace, if not 
a congregation, upon the road.' " 

One day, after the close of a Conference in Charleston, 
Asbury and one or two preachers were on the road, when 
" they came in sight of one of the old parish churches, a 
venerable ante-revolutionary edifice. Riding into the grove 
which surrounded it, Bishop Asbury proposed that they 
should halt and lunch. The little party dismounted and 
secured their horses. The Bishop then wondered if they 

* Boehra's Reminiscences. 



American Methodism. 



255 



could get into the church. This was easily effected. ' We 
will go into God's house and have prayers,' said the 
Bishop, leading the way. He ascended the pulpit and 
engaged in prayer. The spirit of grace and supplication 
was poured upon him in full measure. His intercessions 
rose into vehement pleadings with God ; and he had bold- 
ness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Christ. The 
glory of God seemed to till the house, and the refreshment 
of a special visitation from on high was realized by them 
all. The Bishop's prayer had brought them to heaven's gate. 
After retiring from the church, 'Well,' said the Bishop, 
'God has graciously fed our souls with the bread of heaven 
— let us take some refreshment for the body.' Long years 
after this little incident had occurred one of the party 
related it to me, with deep emotion. It is a touching rev- 
elation of character. How much and how well this man 
prayed ! "* 

A man who thus abounded in prayer was, of course, 
humble. In the summer of 1793 he met an old German, 
who, he says, " shook me by the hand and said he wished 
he might be worthy to wash my feet. Yea, thought I, if 
you knew what a poor, sinful creature I am, you would 
hardly look at one so unworthy. But Jesus lives. O pre- 
cious Christ, thou art mine and I am thine ! " 

Though he was so unceasing and abundant in labor, As- 
bury could not boast. Rather, he was humbled by his sense 
of the imperfections of his service. " We try to do good," 
he writes, " but who among us try to do all the good they 
can? For myself, I leave no company without fears of 
not having discharged my duty. Were it not for Jesus, 
who would be saved ? When I have preached, I feel as 
though I had need to do it over again ; and it is the same 
with all my performances." 

" Bishop Asbury," says Dr. Wightman, " was a man, if 
not of feeble constitution, at least delicate; often sick; 

* The Rev. Dr. Wightman in " Biographical Sketches." 



256 



Centennial History of 



often wearied ; who felt the cold which he braved ; who 
trembled at the roaring torrent which he hesitated not to 
plunge through ; upon whom the summer heat fell with 
an oppressive sense of languor ; who was many a time 
pinched with hunger, when a crust of bread would have 
been thankfully received. His sufferings were manifold. 
But let it be well observed that no particle of merit was 
allowed by the apostle of American Methodism to attach 
to these sufferings. ~No fanatical asceticism with its £ right- 
eousness by starvation' was allowed to obtain foothold 
among the elements of his personal piety. He endured 
hardness as a good soldier of Christ because the circum- 
stances of the time and country involved the necessity of 
such an endurance, not because austerities were good and 
desirable, -per se. His sole ground of acceptance before 
God was the merit of Christ crucified, apprehended by 
faith, and with that merit no lower and fancied merit ,of 
severities and sufferings was allowed to participate." 

His traveling companion, the Hev. J. W. Bond, reported 
Bishop Asbury as saying, near to the close of his career : 
"Were I disposed to boast my boasting would be found true. 
I obtained religion near the age of thirteen. At the age of 
sixteen I began to preach, and traveled some time in Europe. 
At twenty-six I left my native land, and bade adieu to my 
weeping parents, and crossed the boisterous ocean to spend 
the balance of my days in a strange land, partly inhabited 
by savages. I have traveled through heat and cold for forty- 
five years. In thirty years I have crossed the Alleghany 
Mountains fifty-eight times. I have slept in the woods 
without necessary food or raiment. In the Southern States 
I have waded swamps, and led my horse for miles, where 
I took colds that brought on the diseases which are now 
preying on my system, and must soon terminate in death. 
But my mind is still the same — that it is through the merits 
of Christ that I am to be saved."* At one time he said : " I 

* "Christian Advocate and Journal," New York, April IT, 1829. 



American Methodism. 



257 



would lie down and be trodden under foot rather than 
injure a single soul." Asbury was afraid of the least sin, 
and in the battle of faith, which he ceaselessly fought, his 
dependence was ever on Jesus, the Captain of his salvation. 
He exclaims : " It is a sin in thought that I am afraid of. 
a^one but Jesus can support us, by his merit, his Spirit, his 
righteousness, his intercession. That is, Christ in all, 
for all, through all, and in every means and word and 
work." 

A man who walked with God as did Asbury, might be 
warmly attached to his own people, as he was, but lie could 
never be a bigot. Christian catholicity was beautifully 
illustrated in the life of this great leader of Methodism. 
In his Journal, in 1774, is this record: "Blessed be God 
for so many who experience the same work of grace which 
we preach, and at the same time are not of us. This is a 
great confirmation of the work of God. And ' whosoever 
shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven,' of 
every denomination, ' the same is my brother, and sister, 
and mother.' " Again he says : " My spirit has been much 
united to the faithful people of God of every denomina- 
tion." And again : " I see God will work among Men- 
nonites, D linkers, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, 
Dutch, English, no matter; the cause belongs to God." 
Later he says : " I met with a pious Baptist. Glory to 
God for what religion there is still to be found among all 
sects and denominations of people ! " In 1S02 he writes : 
" I dined with Mr. Ramsay, a Presbyterian minister, at his 
own house on Friday, and he with me to-day at my lodg- 
ings. We had quite a Christian interview." Yet later 
he speaks of two Presbyterian ministers, Brown and 
M'Nare, being present at one of his services, and adds : " I 
had a Christian interview with them, and I learned, with 
pleasure, that their labors had been owned and blessed 
among the Scotch Presbyterians." Again, in 1806, he 
says : " I spent a night under the roof of my very dear 



258 



Centennial History of 



brother in Christ, George Newton, a Presbyterian minis- 
ter, an Israelite indeed." 

Asbnry, like Wesley, was a man of one book. " I find," 
he says, "great sweetness in reading the Bible, and com- 
paring spiritual things with spiritual. Other books haye 
too great a tendency to draw us from this, the best of 
books. I therefore intend to read more in this, and less 
in all others." Again he says : " Arose as I commonly 
do, before five o'clock in the morning, to study the Bible. 
I find none like it. and find it of more consequence to a 
preacher to know his Bible well, than all the languages or 
books in the world ; for he is not to preach these, but the 
word of God." At the close of an ordination service, in 
Albany, Asbury lifted up the Bible and with indescribable 
power exclaimed : " This is the minister's battle-ax ; this is 
his sword; take this, therefore, and conquer." At one time 
he wrote : This morning I ended the reading of my Bible 
through in about four months. It is hard work for me to 
find time for this. All I read and write I owe to early 
rising. If I were not to rise always by fiye and some- 
times at four o'clock, I should have no time, only to eat 
my breakfast, pray in the family, and get ready for my 
journey, as I must travel every day." 

He read the Bible not only in the English version, but 
also in the original. In 1777 he says : <6 1 have been read- 
ing some of both Greek and Hebrew." Later he writes : 
"My meditations in the Hebrew Bible have afforded me 
great pleasure. This is the book I study for improve- 
ment."* Yet again he says: "I applied myself to the 
Greek and Latin Testament." Still later he writes : " I 
spent much of my time in reading the Bible and the Greek 
Testament." 

* Bishop Asbury's Hebrew Bible is still preserved. It was exhibited on 
Methodist Historical Day at Ocean Grove. August 12, 1881, by the Rev. 
R. J. Andrews, of Hightstown, N. J. It is in the possession of the family 
of the late Rev. Dr. George Peck. 



Amebic an Methodism. 



259 



It may be asked, How did lie acquire his knowledge of 
the dead languages? He says, March 6, 1793, " I have been 
employed in studying the Hebrew tones and points ; this 
being my horseback study." 

Asbury was a man of faith. " Sometimes," he wrote, 
" I think, will that Infinite Being we call God, who com- 
mands kingdoms, continents, and worlds, take care of such 
a worm as I ? Then I consider he is Infinite, and 
cannot be hurried so as to forget any person. He 
can keep me as securely as if there were none 
but myself in the world." His faith was not feeble ; 
it was gigantic. By it he realized the Invisible. By it 
the future was to him as if it were present. By it he in- 
terpreted his Bible and the events of his life. A pil- 
grim, traveling in the wilds of America for nearly half a 
century, his gaze was on the sky, and he beheld the land 
that is afar off. Beyond the stars he saw his glorious crown. 
With him all the verities of God were certainties. 
Though journeying thousands of miles every year over the 
bad roads of a new country, his treasure and his heart were 
in the New Jerusalem. " Heaven is my country," he said. 
"It is not needful," he says, "to tell all my outward diffi- 
culties and inward sufferings ; heaven will make up for 
all." Again he says : " My soul is like a weaned child. 
My spirit has been greatly assaulted and divinely sup- 
ported in God, in Christ, in the hope of rest, rest, rest, 
eternal rest" Again, his eyes piercing the skies, he ex- 
claims : " Hail, all hail, eternal glory." 

In a letter of June 3, 1803, to Charles Atmore, of En- 
gland, Asbury said : " I am now in the fifty-eighth year of 
my age, and frequently subject to inflammatory rheumatism 
and sometimes disabled for a season. Then I revive again 
and limp along. I was born and brought up in a temperate 
climate with great indulgence, and lived in retirement till 
I was twenty-one years of age. JSTow my constitution is 
broken through heats and colds, and I have gray hairs in 



260 



Centennial History of 



abundance. I have been thirty-seven years in the Connec- 
tion, and thirty-two in America. I hope to hold out a little 
longer, and then to meet my dear English brethren, preach- 
ers and people, in a better world. 

" ' There all the ship's company meet, 
Who sail with the Saviour beneath.' " 

By faith Asbury lived in the world, and yet was not of 
it. Probably no man in America ever surpassed him in 
heavenly-mindedness. Down to his coronation, at three- 
score years and ten, his citizenship was in heaven. Ten 
years before his death, being then sixty years of age, 
he wrote : " Company does not amuse, Congress does not 
interest me. I am a man of another world, in mind and 
calling. I am Christ's, and for the service of his Church." 

In the autumn of 1804 he was sick for many days, at a 
country house in Pennsylvania. He suffered privations as 
well as sickness in his confinement, but his faith was his 
support. " I have not had a more severe attack," he 
writes, " since I came to America. The doctor was seldom 
right, and medicines were not to be had, nor indeed the 
comfort and alleviations that surround a sick-bed in the 
cities. But the best of all was, God was with us. God, 
the glorious Lord, appeared. I was led into the visions of 
God. I shouted his praise." In this long illness he was 
favored with the care of his dear friend, Bishop Whatcoat, 
who says : " I found Bishop Asbury laid up with a bilious 
fever. I stayed with him about thirty-two days." * 

After his recovery, Asbury, under date of November 7, 
1804, wrote to the Rev. Daniel Hitt concerning his sickness. 
He says : " I have been sick on Monongahela Circuit about 
sixty days. I must needs preach at Uniontown and at 
Jacob Murphy's — ride twelve miles through the hot sun 
and some rain. This brought on a chill and burning fever, 
with an inveterate cough. I used two emetics. The 

* " Whatcoat's Journal," in Memoirs by Phoebus. 



American Methodism. 



261 



second helped me a little. I was bled four times, and 
blistered as many. The disease had no intermission for 
fifty days. I gave up my visit to the east. Brother What- 
coat came up with me, and stayed until within two days of 
my recovery." 

In 1814, less than two years before his death, Asbury in 
a letter speaks of " six weeks' confinement — almost given 
up by my doctors and friends." He adds : " If the gates 
of death were near, they were gates of glory to me. Re- 
duced beyond measure, total loss of appetite, sixteen times 
blistered, six glistered, three times bled — heaven, glory all 
in sight. The work of God plain ; to view the rectitude 
of my intention in all my labors — my martyr's life and 
readiness for a martyr's death." 

When this hero of faith walked amid the shadows of 
his life's late even-tide, and began to lay down the great 
burden he had carried so long, his faith towered to the 
very domes of the golden city, and brought to his heart 
the rapture of heaven. He is now only about four months 
from the end. His wearying travels, incessant privations, 
and unremitting labors are almost done. See the great vet- 
eran, as he begins to lay aside his well-worn armor, to par- 
take of the joy of endless victory. How does it seem to 
him now? Hear him: "My eyes fail. I will resign the 
stations to Bishop M'Kendree ; I will take away my feet. 
It is my fifty-fifth year of ministry and forty-fifth year of 
labor in America. My mind enjoys great peace and di- 
vine consolation. Whether health, life, or death, good is 
the will of the Lord. I will trust him, yea, and will praise 
him. He is the strength of my heart, and my portion for- 
ever ! Glory, glory, glory ! " 

Paul ! Asbury ! The words of Paul might have been 
almost as fittingly uttered by Asbury : "In journeyings 
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by 
mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils 
in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, 



262 



Centennial History of 



in perils among false brethren ; in weariness and painful- 
ness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings 
often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are 
without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all 
the churches." 

In the Notes on the Discipline prepared by him and 
Bishop Coke, Asbury did say of the Bishops, of whom he 
was chief : " Their salary is sixty-four dollars a year and 
their traveling expenses. With this salary they are to 
travel about six thousand miles a year, in much patience, 
and sometimes in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in 
labors, in watchings, in fastings, through honor and dis- 
honor, in evil report and good report ; as deceivers, and 
yet true ; as unknown, and yet well known ; as dying, and 
behold they live ; as chastened, and not killed ; as sorrow- 
ful, yet always rejoicing ; as poor, yet making many rich ; 
as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." 

The words of Paul again might well have been the utter- 
ance of Asbury : "I labored more abundantly than they all." 
Paul in Pome, looking to the end of his toils, conflicts, suffer- 
ings, shouts : " The time of my departure is at hand. I 
have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have 
kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
of righteousness." Asbury also comes to the time when 
he must begin to unharness, and he, too, looks to the end, 
and exclaims : " Whether health, life, or death, good 
is the will of the Lord. He is the strength of my heart, 
and my portion forever ! Glory, glory, glory ! " That 
exultant shout of the falling apostle of American Meth- 
odism, which bursts so triumphantly across the silence 
of nearly seventy years to the first Centennial jubilee of the 
Church he toiled so hard and so long to build, should be 
only less inspiring to the militant host of God than the 
last victorious shout of the great apostle to the Gentiles. 
And especially should the millions of American [Methodists, 
the inheritors of the faith and the labors of Asbury, catch 



American Methodism. 



263 



up that shout of their ascended leader amid the thanks- 
givings and exultations of their great Centennial epoch, 
and send it like musical thunder from ocean to ocean — 
"Glory, glory, glory ! » 

We have now examined Asbury's qualifications for his 
great mission, so far as these were comprised in his love to 
God and souls, his devotion, his humility, his knowledge 
of the Bible, his catholicity, and his faith. We will now 
turn to the contemplation of his mental and physical en- 
dowments. 

Asbury possessed a clear, sound, balanced intellect. He 
was largely endowed with the saving faculty of common 
sense. Though deeply devout he was far removed from 
fanaticism. In regard to the question whether he should 
go to Virginia, in 1781, to meet a crisis that arose out of 
the perilous contention about the sacraments, he said : " I 
do not look for impulses or revelations. The voice of my 
brethren and concurrent circumstances will determine me 
in this matter." His views of religion were sober and 
rational. He says : " What some people take for religion 
is nothing but the power of the natural passions. It is 
true, real religion cannot exist without peace and love and 
joy. But, then, real religion is real holiness. And all sen- 
sations without a strong disposition for holiness are but 
delusive." 

He was keen sighted mentally, and also far-sighted. He 
was competent to measure an exigence, and to dispose of 
it readily and skillfully. He was, perhaps, scare 3ly ever 
foiled in an extremity. He was fertile in resources, and 
so met the occasion as it occurred. Such was the combi- 
nation of mental qualities in this remarkable man that he 
was never foolish, but almost always wise. 

Probably no man in America ever surpassed him in the 
facility and mastery with which he adapted means to ends. 
The one end he sought was the divine glory and the salva- 
tion of souls. In compassing that sublime purpose it was 



264 



Centennial History of 



his office to plan for and direct others. Hence he deemed 
authority to be indispensable to him, and of that authority 
he was jealous. The office of overseership came to him, 
as he thought, in the order of God. 

His coming to America, in his view, was of God. He 
said : " I believe God hath sent me to this country." He 
also believed that he should remain. Amidst the distress of 
the Revolution he and Shadford made the question of their 
return to England an occasion of special prayer. Mr. Shad- 
ford says : " I said to Brother Asbury, let us have a day of 
fasting and prayer, that the Lord may direct us ; for we 
never were in such circumstances as we are now since we 
were Methodist preachers. We did so, and in the evening 
I asked him how he found his mind ? He said he did not 
see his way clear to go to England. I told him I could 
not stay, as I believed I had done my work here at pres- 
ent ; and that it was as much impressed upon my mind to 
go home now as it had been to come over to America. 
He replied : ' Then one of us must be under a delusion.' 
I said : 6 Not so. I may have a call to go, and you to 
stay.' And I believe we both obeyed the call of Provi- 
dence. We said we must part, though we loved as David 
and Jonathan." * Asbury, in a letter to Atmore, said : 
" I thought when I came to America four years would be 
long enough for me to stay ; but the children whom God 
had given us asked, ' Will you leave us in our time of 
distress ? ' And so here I am." f 

Asbury's position as Superintendent was filled so grandly 
and so perfectly that it seemed as if he and his office were 
formed for each other. To execute that office with the 
highest advantage he required to exercise its full powers as 
well as to bear its full responsibilities. Hence he was not 
favorable to any measures which would limit his authority 
to appoint and to command. 

* " Arminian Magazine," London, 1*790. 
f Letter to Charles Atmore, June 3 ; 1803. 



American Methodism. 



265 



Asbury's capacity as an ecclesiastical ruler was extraor- 
dinary. " His practical, sagacious intellect fitted him ad- 
mirably for the task of governing. His forte was admin- 
istration. That was the prime necessity of his position, the 
special demand of the time." The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper 
says : " Yery few, either primitive or modern, ever knew 
the art better than he of exercising and supporting the 
pastoral and episcopal influence and authority. He had a 
particular qualification for governing. His peculiar mind 
and spirit, his dignified conversation and deportment, his 
stern reserve, tempered by a social freedom, his authori- 
tative decisions, softened by gentle soothings, his appar- 
ent inflexibility and independent opinion placidly yielding 
to reasonable and amicable accommodations, carried with 
them an impressive and almost irresistible influence, and 
gave him a kind of patriarchal ascendency and superior- 
ity." He wielded the great power of a Bishop with such 
fidelity, skill, industry, and success as made the Methodist 
Episcopal Church the ecclesiastical wonder of the world. 

The practical wisdom of Asbury was shown in his 
grasp of the question of the American Revolution. The 
other English preachers had no comprehension of it, 
and their conduct consequently was unwise. Xot 
so Asbury. He compassed the troubled situation. In 
the same month in which Congress issued the Decla- 
ration of Independence, Asbury wrote these prescient 
words: "The English ships have been coasting to and fro, 
watching for some advantages ; but what can they expect 
to accomplish without an army of two or three hundred 
thousand men ? And even then there would be but little 
prospect of their success." The late venerable Henry 
Boehm says : " When I was with him in Canada he said 
to me, 'England always had the wrong foot foremost in 
regard to America.' " Thus in the dark years of the war 
Asbury penetrated its problem with the insight and sagac- 
ity of a statesman. 
12 



266 



Centennial History of 



Mr. Asbury was a true American in his spirit, and a 
loyal son of his adopted country. In a letter to his parents 
lie said : " America is the young child of God and Provi- 
dence. Set upon the lap, dandled upon the knees, pressed 
to the consolatory breasts of mercies unmerited." Late in 
his life — 1811 — on entering Canada, he wrote : " My strong 
alfection for the people of the United States came with 
strange power upon me while I was crossing the line." His 
keen observation made him awake to the dangers of the 
country and of the government. He was as faithful in ex- 
posing as he was quick in discerning them. One of the chief 
dangers of the country in his view was intoxicants. In 1812 
lie was in Pennsylvania, and wrote : " The Germans are 
decent in their behavior in this neighborhood, and would 
be more so were it not for vile whisky. This is the 
prime curse of the United States, and will be, I fear much, 
the ruin of all that is excellent in morals and government 
in them." He#was a witness of the destruction caused by 
rum. He says : " The men kill themselves with strong 
drink before we can get at them." He exclaimed : 
a O that liquid fire!" 

Intellectually, then, Asbury was nobly endowed for the 
great work that was given to him. Besides, bis acquisitions 
were not small. He was a diligent reader. In February, 
1796, he says in his Journal: "I am apprehensive I injure 
myself by giving too intense application to reading. In my 
early days I contracted a habit for this, and I cannot easily 
give it up." At a comparatively early period in his min- 
istry in this country he records that his habit was, in ad- 
dition to praying in public five times a day, preaching in 
the open air every other day, and lecturing in prayer- 
meeting every evening, to read about a hundred pages 
a day. At times he read more rapidly, for on July 
13, 1781, he says: "I have kept close to-day, and have 
read two hundred pages of Baxters 'Saint's Rest.' " Under 
pressure of travel and work he sometimes read much less, 



American Methodism. 



267 



no doubt, yet his mental activity was always remarkable. 
On March 2, 1781, he writes : " I have read the first and 
second volumes of Rollins' s ' Ancient History,' containing 
about three hundred pages each, in about two weeks." 
We have seen already how he read the Holy Scriptures in 
Hebrew and in Greek. 

The Rev. Henry Boehm says : " His Hebrew Bible was 
Ids constant companion. The Bishop read a great many 
books while I was with him. The moment we were in the 
house, after having laid aside his saddle-bags and greeted 
the family, he began to read and write." His studies 
were prosecuted often under serious difficulties. In Xorth 
Carolina he says : " Here was a cabin with one room, a 
barn, and stables. I have little time to write or place to 
read. The barn is my closet for prayer." In Maryland, 
in the autumn of 1781, he wrote : " I have little leisure 
for any thing but prayer ; seldom more than two hours a 
day, and that space I wish to spend in retired meditation 
and prayer. Something might be gained could I pore 
over a book on horseback, as Mr. Wesley does in England ; 
but this our roads forbid." At another time he said : "I am 
always on the wing ; but it is for God." Yet he became a 
man of very considerable reading, as the comments he made 
upon books in his Journal show. 

Asbury's gift of utterance was good. He could com- 
mand attention and make an impression upon an audience. 
In native eloquence, however, there were preachers who 
surpassed him. But while some of the men who received 
their stations at his hands possessed, perhaps, in a larger 
degree than himself, the subtle charms of the orator, he 
stood alone in his rugged greatness. No man in Ajnerican 
Methodism has attained to the colossal proportions of Francis 
Asbury. "Who in America ever approached him in apostolic 
labor and masterful administration of religious concerns ? 

Physically Asbury was well endowed. He suffered, in- 
deed, from physical infirmity, and yet he proved that 



268 



Centennial History of 



his body was capable of vast exertion and endurance. 
His exposure, travels, labors in Conferences, in the pulpit, 
and elsewhere, were enough to wear out any organism of 
flesh; yet he endured as if his sinews were steel. The 
Rev. Henry Boehm was his companion for five years, 
and he says : " I traveled forty thousand miles with Bishop 
Asbury." What, then, must have been the extent of 
the journeyings of this American apostle in the almost 
fort} 7 -five years of his wanderings over the United States 8 
The Rev. Nicholas Snethen, an earlier traveling com- 
panion of Asbury, says: "Mr. Wesley in a year went 
over a circuit of a little island or two, and therefore he 
[Asbury] must needs compass a continent. The one 
went from town to town and, therefore, the other must 
go from wilderness to wilderness. Thus did he stretch 
and strain himself, not only beyond another man's line of 
things, but beyond all human bounds and measures." He 
could have achieved such unparallelled labor only by a 
physical organization that was exceedingly tenacious of its 
vigor. 

Asbury was gifted with a melodious voice, which he 
frequently employed in song. Mr. Boehm says : " He was 
fond of singing. He had a full bass or organ-like voice, 
and would often set the tune in public worship. The 
Bishop often sang as he walked the floor, and this he often 
did when in deep meditation." Lednum says : " Mr. 
Asbury was a remarkably good singer, and has been heard 
to say 4 that he had raised up many a son in the Gospel 
who could outpreach him, but never one who could out- 
sing him ; 5 and he might have added, not one who could 
outpray him." It is said that he was accustomed to sing 
to the tune of " Light Street :" 

" Still out of the deepest abyss 

Of trouble I mournfully cry ; 
I piue to recover my peace, 

To see my Redeemer and die. 



American Methodism. 



269 



"I cannot. T cannot forbear, 

These passionate longings for home, 

when shall my spirit be there, 
when will the messenger come." 

He is described as having " a ruddy English face," and 
"an active and determined step." Says Mr. Snethen : 
" Mr. Asbury, until a few years before his death, when 
disease would have confined any body but himself, was 
still interesting in his appearance. He was neat and 
clean in his person, active and erect in his movements, 
with a fine set of teeth and an excellent voice." * 

With his extraordinary physical, mental, and spiritual 
endowments, Asbury may be said to have been transcend- 
ently qualified for the great mission to which he was 
appointed. 

We come now to inquire, How was that mission by him 
fulfilled 2 

Asbury fulfilled his mission with singleness of purpose. 
His eye was single. Throughout his American career there 
was a steady concentration of all the resources of his being 
upon the point of achieving spiritual results. He paused not 
to buy or to sell. In the year after his arrival in America 
he wrote to his father and mother : " I am not for making 
a fortune, but to convert souls to G-od." With a knowl- 
edge of the whole country such as was possessed by no 
other man, he must have seen fine opportunities to advance 
his temporal fortunes. He wrote his parents from Balti- 
more : " I have had opportunities of pursuing fleshly ends, 
but I abhor them." There is no evidence that he paused 
an hour in forty-five years to negotiate a bargain. On, on 
he pushed, through frosty winds and sultry suns, through 
beating rain and drifting snow, through changeful days 
and dismal nights, as the servant and messenger and Super- 
intendent of the Churches. Asbury pause in his great 
work to come down to speculation for the riches of earth ! 
* Snethen's Letters on " Methodist History." ''Wesleyan Repository," vol. L 



270 



Cextexxial History of 



Such ends were far beneath his exalted aims. Rather, 
emerging from some cabin in the wilderness with the 
dawn, he would mount his horse and ride away in quest 
of perishing sinners. 

In this particular Asbury was the counterpart of "White- 
field. Whitefield; in a letter to "Wesley, from Queen 
Anne County, Maryland, of October 14, 1746, says : " If 
you ask, How is it with me ? I answer, Happy in J esus, 
the Lord my righteousness. If you ash, What am I 
doino- ? Ranging and hunting in the American woods 
after poor sinners, and resolved, in the strength of Jesus, to 
pursue the heavenly game more and more. If you ask, 
"With what success ? I would answer, (0, amazing grace !) 
"With great success indeed." * Asbury might have appro- 
priated these words of the wonderful preacher with per- 
fect propriety ; and, so far as ranging in the American 
woods was concerned, the words of Whitefield applied even 
more aptly to Asbury than to himself. In less than six 
months after Asbury reached America, Mr. Jonathan 
Bryan wrote from Xew York to Mr. Wesley, saying : 
" Mr. Whitefleld's preaching was of unspeakable use to 
many. Thousands will praise God that they ever heard 
him. But he preached mostly in the sea-port towns, and 
the most populous parts of the provinces; in the back 
parts, which are now grown populous, the inhabitants are in 
a state of deplorable ignorance still." f Mr. Asbury quickly 
pushed to "the back parts," where the ignorance was "de- 
plorable/' and henceforth, until his last triumph, he was 
found " ranging and hunting in the American woods after 
poor sinners." He thus ranged the woods, too, with raiment 
sometimes worn and rent, Xine years after he embarked 
for America, being in Virginia, he says : " These kind peo- 
ple have made me a dress of Virginia cloth, which I much 
needed, as my dress approached to raggedness." Mr. 

* "Arminian Magazine. " 1778, p. 418. 
f Ibid., 1785, pp. 167, 168. 



Amekican Methodism. 



271 



Zachary Myles, of Baltimore, in a letter dated February, 
1807, says : " Mr. Asbury came into this city wrapped up 
in a blanket and habited like an Indian, with his own 
clothes worn out." * Behold this leader of the rising 
Church ! With capacity to rule an empire, or to march 
legions to conquest, he, in tattered garb, gives his life to 
hunting in the wilderness for the lost sheep of the good 
Shepherd, thankfully accepting from pitying hands rai- 
ment to protect him from raggedness ! If ever a man 
since Paul exclaimed, " This one thing I do," gave all his 
ransomed powers with a single eye and an unfaltering 
purpose to the service of God and of redeemed men, 
surely that man was Francis Asbury. 

Asbury, furthermore, fulfilled his mission in the spirit 
of his Master. Of Jesus it was said, " This man receiveth 
sinners." He sought not any particular sort of sinners, 
but sinners. " The Son of Man is come to seek and to 
save that which was lost." 

We see Mr. Asbury at one time kneeling in prayer with 
Richard Bassett, a governor of Delaware and a member of 
Congress, and while they knelt the Comforter came to the 
rich penitent's heart. f Again we see Asbury, like his 
Master, seeking the salvation of a solitary woman whom 
he chanced to meet. " Our horses," he says, " were out 
of the way, so that we could not pursue our journey. I 
was desirous to be doing good somewhere, and was led to 
speak to a woman unknown to me, and I urged her to 
pray three times a day. She appeared tender, and with 
tears promised to do so. Perhaps this labor may not be lost." 

We have seen Bishop Asbury in the house of Mr. Wells, 
a merchant in Charleston, travailing in spirit for the sal- 
vation of his host, and joyfully recording the fact of the 
merchant's conversion while he was under his roof. Sub- 
sequently we behold the Bishop, in that same merchant's 

* "Arminian Magazine," 1807, p. 332. 
f Asbury's " Journal," vol. i, p. 362. 



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Centennial History of 



kitchen, leading negro bondmen into the liberty of the sons 
of God ; for in Charleston he writes : " At night I met the 
seeking Africans in Brother Wells's kitchen." 

In pursuing his great mission Asbury thought much of 
the poor. We have seen already how, as he was leaving 
George Dougherty in charge of the society in Charleston, 
in 1800, he charged him particularly to care for the black 
people. " 1 leave you," he said, " a flower garden and a 
kitchen garden to cultivate." The kitchen garden com- 
prised the slave portion of the society, the flower garden 
the white membership. How Bishop Asbury gave his 
tender sympathy and his personal ministry to the op- 
pressed negroes is shown in the following record, which 
appears in his Journal : 

" I cured a poor African's sore leg by applying a poul- 
tice of bread and milk." 

While he had compassion upon the oppressed in their 
physical sufferings, his chief object was to save their 
souls. When he had been nearly thirteen years a Bishop 
of the Church, he saw one day a negro in a field, and at 
once a desire to speak to him rose in his great, tender soul. 
He says : " As I came along on my return, he was at a 
stone wall within eight or nine feet of me. Poor creature ! 
he seemed struck at my counsel, and gave me thanks. O ! 
it was in going down into the Egypt of South Carolina 
after those poor souls of Africans I have lost my health, 
if not my life in the end. The will of the Lord be 
done ! " 

The black people loved him. How could they help 
loving such a benefactor ? He relates the case of a poor 
black woman, sixty years old, who supported herself, in 
part, by picking "opium,"* and for the rest was a pensioner 
upon charity. She brought him a French crown, telling 
him she had been distressed for him, and he must accept 
it. " But no," he says ; " although I have not three dollars 

* Probably "oakum." 



American Methodism. 



273 



to travel three thousand miles, I will not take money from 
the poor." 

In seeking the salvation of the poor Asbury paused not for 
color. The poor, black or white, he sought to save. Once 
when at Long Island he wrote : "The people on this island 
who hear the Gospel are generally poor, and these are the 
kind I want and expect to get." Later he says : " To be- 
gin at the right end of the work is to go first to the poor. 
These tvill, the rich may possibly, hear the truth." Dining 
at a public house in Connecticut : " Our host," he says, 
u told us it was the misfortune of the Methodists to fall 
in with some of the most ignorant, poor, and disreputable 
people in the State. My answer was, * The poor have the 
Gospel preached to them' — that it had been aforetime 
asked, ' Have any of the rulers believed on him i ' " In 
1S10 he wrote: "Gave a special charge concerning the 
poor. O, let me ever remember these ! " Again he ex- 
claimed : " God, give us the poor ! " 

In the month of March, 1794, Bishop Asbury was in 
North Carolina. He made this record there : " Spent the 
evening with dear Brother S., in his clean cabin." Yet 
the cabins were not always clean, nor the fare agreeable. 
In his labors among the poor Bishop Asbury often encount- 
ered things which were repugnant to his tastes as a gen- 
tleman and trying to his faith as a Christian. In the year 
1S11, when he had been traveling in America almost forty 
years, he exclaims : " O the clover of Baltimore circuit ! 
Ease, ease! Xot for me. Toil, suffering, coarse food, 
hard lodging, bugs, fleas, and certain etceteras besides." 

The zeal of Bishop Asbury may be said to have been 
apostolic. February, 1796, in Charleston, he says, in his 
Journal : " I have written in the most pointed manner to 
my dear brethren in Baltimore to establish prayer-meet- 
ings in every part of the town." The following letter, dated 
Charleston, February 11, 1796, illustrates the record in his 
Journal. He says : " O, my dear brother, how my soul pant- 
12* 



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Centennial History of 



etli, desireth, and prayeth for a revival of religion in Balti- 
more. I have desired all our leaders to strive to establish 
prayer-meetings through the whole town, and to cry might- 
ily to God. What have our slumbering spirits been about ? 
What ! None convinced, converted, and sanctified ! The 
devil has been around the fold and stolen some away. O, 
my brother, for God's sake, for Christ's sake, for the sake 
of the Eternal Spirit, for the sake of believers, backsliders, 
mourners, and poor miserable sinners, let us awake and call 
and cry upon the walls of Zion. If my advice is generally 
received, the work will revive. If it is not taken, I shall 
call heaven and earth to witness against my dear Balti- 
more children and brethren. I have desired that my let- 
ters, which all speak one language, should be read in the 
leaders' meeting, and come like claps of thunder among 
you all." 

The zeal of this great evangelist was not limited to Bal- 
timore, or even to America ; it compassed a world. In a 
letter written less than two years before he died, Bishop 
Asbury said : " O if the Methodists will walk by the same 
rules, in fifty years more British and Spanish America will 
be peopled with the gospel and saints! O the Bible So- 
cieties of Europe and America, spreading truth over all 
the world ! O Africa ! * O Asia ! The isles of the sea ! 
Come home, the seed of Abraham!" February 9, 1814, 
he wrote to Mr. Myles, of Baltimore : " I hope Dr. Coke 
will devote the last of his days nobly, not in making many 
books, but in his apostolic mission in those two vast quar- 
ters of the globe, Asia and Africa. My prayers and good 
wishes shall follow him and his missionaries." Less than 
a year before he died he wrote to the British Wesleyan 
Conference : " O, my brethren, to spread the printed and 
preached gospel, and to feed the rising generation with the 

* It was fitting that the sons of Asbury at the Centennial General Con- 
ference of the Church he was chief in building should consecrate a Bishop 
for Africa. Bishop Taylor illustrates the zeal of Bishop Asbury. 



American Methodism. 



275 



sincere milk of the word ! And O, that Europe, Africa, 
Asia, and the few millions of the scattered tribes of Abra- 
ham may hail and kiss the Son of David and the Son of 
God ! Amen." 

Asbury performed his work with great diligence. " I can- 
not," he says, " be idle, but must be occupied till my Lord 
shall come." Of rest on earth he seemed to scarcely think. 
The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper said of him : " Wonderful man ! 
Every day and every hour, almost every minute, appeared 
to be employed and devoted in close application to some 
excellent work and useful purpose." Had he been less 
fond of toil than of repose, Methodism in America could 
not have attained to such vast proportions. " The hand 
of the diligent maketh rich." Asbury's diligent hand 
shaped into greatness the goodly fabric of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. Moving with amazing rapidity 
among the Churches and Conferences he, every-where, 
inspired others to activity. Mr. Snethen says of Bishop 
Asbury : " There was nothing in the world he so much 
dreaded as a preacher who was not always in motion." 
Thus this heroic captain of the cavalry of Methodism kept 
his soldiers mounted and in action. There was no resting 
on arms under his unfaltering leadership. With the whole 
Church and ministry in constant and rapid motion, under 
the mighty and invincible Asbury, the continent trembled 
beneath the rushing hosts. 

The phenomenal success of Methodism in America has 
called forth opinions respecting the cause or causes of that 
success. So far as human agencies were concerned, un- 
doubtedly a chief cause was the unflagging and powerful 
leadership of Francis Asbury. 

How great was Asbury's diligence is shown in the fol- 
lowing passage, written in 1799, more than sixteen years 
before he ceased his labors. He says : " I tremble and 
faint under my burden : having to ride about six thou- 
sand miles annually ; to preach from three to five hundred 



276 



Centennial History of 



sermons a year ; to write so many letters, and read many 
more ; all this and more, besides the stationing of three 
hundred preachers ; reading many hundred pages, and 
spending many hours in conversation by day and by night, 
with preachers and people of various characters, among 
whom are many distressing cases." He elsewhere says of 
his letters : " I suppose I must write nearly a thousand in 
a year." 

A continent was not too large for his energy. Writ- 
ing to Dr. Coke in 1797, he says : " If you are a man of 
large mind you will give up a few islands for a vast conti- 
nent, not less than 1,400 miles in length and 1,000 miles 
in breadth. We have sixteen United States for ingress 
and egress rising, not like little settlements, but like large 
nations and kingdoms." Over this widely-extended terri- 
tory Asbury traveled, while rough and muddy roads, rivers 
and floods, cold and snow, heat and tempests, had no effect 
to abate his glowing ardor. The Be v. Henry Boehm says, 
that in a storm Asbury would say, " Let us journey on ; we 
are neither sugar nor salt ; there is no danger of our melt- 
ing." In a letter to Thomas Morrell, the apostolic hero says : 
" I have been traveling for months, through mountains and 
hills and frequent rains, at the rate of one hundred and 
fifty to two hundred miles a week, and sometimes, for two 
days together, forty-five miles in a day. I have spent 
about fifty pounds in five months to meet the wants of the 
preachers, wilderness expense, and expenses of three horses. 
A valuable young man, Brother Hill, is my helpmate. I 
am now going to Bath for about ten days for my rheu- 
matic affections, that have been stronger this winter than 
ever, and pursued me through the summer. From Po- 
tomac I am to work my way through to Albany, another 
wilderness. The Lord is with us."* In 1801, in a letter 
to Coke, he said : " After a confinement of seven weeks in 

* This letter is without date. Internal evidence shows that it must have 
been written not long after the General Conference of 1792. 



American Methodism. 



277 



Philadelphia, and the eating out of a principal sinew in 
my foot by caustics, it having been strained by excessive 
riding, I am in my work again. I am now beating up to 
the westward to attend the yearly Conference for that de- 
partment in the cast end of Tennessee." 

Mr. Boehm began service as Bishop Asbury's traveling 
companion in 1808. The author of these pages wrote 
from his lips the account of his first journey in that office. 
" My first tour with Bishop Asbury," he said, " was from 
a point between Baltimore and Fredericktown, Maryland, 
where Strawb ridge bnilt his first church; thence westward. 
We crossed the Alleghany Mountains on our way, and the 
ascent occupied thirty-nine hours. Having passed the 
mountains we made our way to Wheeling ; thence through 
Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee; thence pursued a southerly 
course, visiting the Conferences in the Southern States. 
During the western part of this tour we visited the terri- 
tory of Indiana, which was a vast wilderness. We traveled 
in it thirty-six miles, and saw in all that distance only six 
human habitations." At that time Asbury was sixty- 
three years of age. In that very year he wrote to Dr. 
Coke: "My eyes, my time, my powers fail. Think how 
many hours I must be upon horseback when I only ride 
three, or at most four, miles in an hour." On May 2, 1809, 
Asbury again wrote to Dr. Coke, saying : " I am sinking 
under the weight of labors and the infirmities of the sixty- 
fourth year of my life. Last year I had to travel on 
crutches several hundred miles. The face of the country 
is such I cannot use wheels without great trouble and ex- 
pense. Yours is a very different country." Shortly after 
his election to the Superintendence', Bishop M'Kendree 
wrote : " I am favored but little with Father Asbury's 
company. As soon as one Conference is over we part, and 
go with all speed from one appointment to another, by 
different routes, to meet at the next Conference. The old 
soldier (Mr. Asbury) travels sometimes on horseback and 



278 



Centennial History of 



part of Iris time on crutches. He preaches standing, sit- 
ting, and on his knees, as the necessity of the case requires. 
He seems to be determined to labor more than any of us." * 

In regard to crossing the Alleghanies, Asbury, in 1791, 
wrote to Dr. Coke : " I soar, indeed, but it is over the tops 
of the highest mountains we have, which may vie with 
the Alps. I creep sometimes upon my hands and knees 
up the slippery ascent." With respect to his travels he, 
in the same letter, says: "All the property I have gained 
is two old horses, the companions of my toil 6,000 if not 
7,000 miles every year. When we have no ferry-boats 
they swim the rivers." One of the horses he rode; upon 
the other he fastened his baggage. It is said that "his 
baggage-horse would follow him anywhere." 

In his constant travels Bishop Asbury encountered many 
dangers as well as much hardship ; yet these had no effect 
to check his aggressive movements. Says Ezekiel Cooper : 
" No season, no weather stopped him. Through winter's 
cold and summer's heat he pressed on. He was often in 
the tempest and the storm ; in rain, snow, and hail ; in 
hunger, thirst, weariness, and afflictions. Sometimes with 
uncomfortable entertainment, with hard lodgings and 
unkind treatment." In a letter addressed to " Elder 
Colbert," but without date, Asbury says : "If I am to 
continue my labors I purpose, against the advice of 
my best friends, to pass through your lines to Fort Pitt 
next summer, on ,my way to the Kentucky Conference. I 
have no intention of preaching as I go, only on Sabbath 
days. I must ride, ride from Monday till Saturday 
night." f Mr. Eoehm graphically describes the perils 
that beset the apostolic wanderer. He says: "We often 
rode at night over rough stony roads and stumps, where 
it was exceedingly dangerous ; sometimes on the side of 

* "Arminian Magazine," London, 1809. 

f Autograph letter of Bishop Asbury, in possession of Miss E. M. Colbert 
Fort Pitt is now Pittsburg. 



American Methodism. 279 

a mountain near a river, under such circumstances that 
a few feet, or even a few inches, would have been sud- 
den destruction ; sometimes when it was so dark I had 
to go before to feel the way and lead the horse. Several 
times he was in danger by his horses running away, or by 
their sudden starting, then by the upsetting of his carriage. 
This happened several times and in dangerous places, and 
yet he was miraculously preserved. He was often in dan- 
ger in crossing the rivers and streams, to say nothing of 
swimming horses, or crossing over on logs or trees where, 
if he fell off, he would be greatly injured, but particularly 
in crossing the ferries. He often crossed in 'old flats' and 
'scows' and canoes, with horses and sometimes wagons. 
Many of these boats were old and leaky, and sometimes 
poorly manned ; at other times unmanageable. When we 
remember that the Bishop crossed the highest mountains, 
the widest and most rapid rivers, at all seasons of the year, 
we can estimate the danger to which he was exposed." 
Asbury, in referring to a man who said " he put his life in 
his hand," says : " So have I, every time I have crossed the 
wilderness and mountains." 

Bishop Asbury was in perils from Indians. Said Judge 
M'Lean : " In passing through the Indian country west 
of the Alleghany Mountains, he literally took his life in 
his hand. He often encamped in the wilderness where 
no one ventured to sleep except under the protection 
of a trustworthy sentinel. And it was no uncommon 
occurrence for the Indians to shoot and tomahawk trav- 
elers on the routes which he traveled." In 1793, when 
he was under an escort of armed men, in the wilderness 
beyond the Cumberland Mountains, the savages were in 
close pursuit. One of the company — the Bev. William 
Burke — says : " We immediately put whip to our horses, 
and descended to Camp Creek, about sunset, when we 
called a halt to consult on what was best to be done. On 
putting it to vote whether we should proceed on our jour- 



280 



Centennial History of 



ney, every one was for proceeding but one of the preachers, 
who said it would kill his horse to travel that night. The 
Bishop all this time was sitting on his horse in silence, and 
on the vote being taken, he reined up his steed, and said : 
1 Kill man, kill horse ; kill horse first.' In a few minutes 
we made our arrangements for the night. The night being 
dark, and nothing but a narrow path, we appointed two to 
proceed in front, to lead the way and keep the path, and 
two as a rear-guard, to keep some distance behind and bring 
intelligence every half -hour, that we might know whether 
they were in pursuit of us, for we could not go faster than 
a walk. They reported that they were following us till 
near twelve o'clock. We were then on the Big Laurel 
Biver. We agreed to proceed, and alighted from our 
horses and continued on foot till day break, w T hen we ar- 
rived at the Hazel Patch, where we stopped and took 
some refreshment. We were mounted and on our jour- 
ney by the rising of the sun. By this time we were all 
very much fatigued, and we yet had between forty and 
fifty miles before us. That night, about dark, we arrived 
at our good friend Willis Green's, having been on horse- 
back nearly forty hours, and having traveled about one 
hundred and ten miles in that time. I perfectly recollect 
that at supper I handed my cup for a second cup of tea, 
and before it reached me I was fast asleep, and had to be 
waked up to receive it. The Bishop proceeded on next 
morning." 

Asbury gave much attention to details in his work. He 
could grasp the immense ; he also could, and did, attend 
to little things. He was a pastor as well as a Bishop, and 
the Republic was his parish. As drops fill the sea and 
atoms compose the earth, so a wise man sees that the vast 
is made up of the minute. Asbury well , understood this 
truth. He labored accordingly. Therefore, he stopped 
in his journey to instruct a poor negro slave in divine 
things. Therefore, he met the classes, visited the sick, 



American Methodism. 



281 



ministered from house to house, scattered the Scriptures, 
distributed tracts, and cared for the children. 

At one time he says : " In every house, tavern and pri- 
vate, I have prayed and talked. This is part of my mis- 
sion." In 1795 he says : " Since I have been in Lynn I 
have visited Woodsend and Gravesend, met five classes, 
visited about one dozen families, talked to them personally 
about their souls, and prayed with them." In 1796 he 
once wrote : " I met three living classes, several among 
whom professed perfect love." And again : " I was much 
fatigued in meeting classes and visiting from house to 
house ; but the Lord was present to bless, which gave me 
consolation." In 1813 he writes : ""We are safe in Charles- 
ton, visiting Black Swamp and some families as we came 
along." Soon after he says: "In visiting six families I 
found but two that acknowledged God in his word and 
worship." Again : "I visited Sister Perry, the former wife 
of John King, one of the first Methodist preachers." 
Again in 1810 : " I preached the funeral sermon of Mary 
Withy. She was awakened to a deep inquiry respecting 
the salvation of her soul while I officiated at her house in 
family prayer. This was in the year 1772, on my first 
journey to Maryland. She slept in Jesus." He visited 
the sick as well as comforted the bereaved. In 1S12 he 
says : " Sister Lusby's lamp is nearly extinct ; I visited and 
prayed with her." 

Not only did Bishop Asbury care for the classes and 
visit the sick personally, but he stirred up the preachers 
to do likewise. In his Journal of December 15, 1796, he 
says : " I wrote to our brethren in the city stations not 
to neglect the sick an hour, nor an absentee from class one 
week. Indeed, we ought to be 1 always abounding in the 
work of the Lord.' " 

Thus this marvelous Bishop passed through the land, not 
as a mitered prelate, but as the servant of mankind. As 
he went he paused to labor with individual souls, and to 



282 



Centennial History of 



pray with and exhort families. He was ever scatter- 
ing seed from which has grown many a harvest. In his 
visitations among the families, the sick and downcast, he 
sometimes met those who were the fruit of seed he 
sowed long before. At Northeast Maryland, in 1814, he 
says : " I visited Daniel Sheridan, a son of deep affliction 
in body, mind, and circumstances. He is one of my spir- 
itual children, and has remained a disciple forty years. We 
prayed together, and God was with us of a truth." How 
he scattered the seed in by-places over the, country the 
following glimpses of his labors at firesides show : " Our 
travels," he says in 1813, "have been through toil and 
crowds and storms. It is our business to read, exhort, and 
pray, wherever we stop." A few days later : " We were 
careful to leave our testimony and to pray with every 
family where w T e stopped." Again, soon after : " We were 
careful to pray with the families where we stopped, ex- 
horting all professors to holiness." Again : " We put into 
a house at Great Bend, and stopped to dine. Here I 
lectured, sung, and prayed with the poor infidels in the 
house ; some stared, some smiled, and some wept. The 
lady asked me to call again as I passed. 4 Yes, madam, on 
condition you will do two things — read your Bible and 
betake yourself to prayer.' " 

Bishop Asbury was very direct and frank, as well as af- 
fectionate, in his pastoral conversations. On one occasion 
he stopped at a house in which was a young lady who 
played upon a piano. He took the grandmother of the 
young lady by the hand and solemnly addressed her thus : 
"Your mother was one of the first-fruits of Methodism 
in Maryland. She lived and died in the faith, and is now 
in heaven. She was the first generation of Methodists. 
You are the second generation, and I hope you are striving 
to walk in the good old way. Your children here are the 
third generation, and they have departed from the simplic- 
ity of Methodism." Pointing to the young lady at the 



American Methodism. 



283 



piano he said, " that is the fourth generation, and she must 
be taught to play, and I expect that the fifth generation 
will be taught to dance." Then the Bishop sat down and 
wept. 

Asbury gave much thought and attention to children. 
Near the end of the year 1T80 he wrote in his Journal, at 
a certain place : " I proposed meeting the children when I 
came again. I appointed a place for them to sit, and de- 
sired the parents to send a note with each, letting me know 
the temper and those vices to which the child might be 
most subject." A few days later he records : " I gave an 
exhortation, took down the names of the children, and 
spoke to some of them. I desired the preachers to meet the 
children when they came along — an important but much 
neglected duty. To the shame of ministers be it spoken." 
In January, 1801, he wrote : " I feel deeply affected for 
the rising generation. Having resolved to catechise the 
children myself, I procured a Scripture Catechism, and 
began with Brother Horton's. To this duty I purpose to 
attend in every house where leisure and opportunity may 
permit." In 1806 he wrote : U A few young people are 
under the operations of grace here ; among whom are the 
two children of George Pickering — my namesake, As- 
bury, aged about ten ; and Maria, still younger." Near 
to the close of his life he wrote : " I remember the little 
children." 

The venerable Boehm says Bishop Asbury was very fond 
of children. " They would run to meet him, and then re- 
ceive his blessing. They gathered round his knees and 
listened to his conversation. He would sometimes place 
them upon his knee and teach them the following lesson : 

" Learn to read, and learn to pray ; 
Learn to work, and learn to obey." 

Then he would show the benefit of learning those lessons : 
* Learn to read, to make you wise ; learn to pray, to make 



284 



Centennial History of 



you good ; learn to work, to get your living ; learn to obey, 
that you may be obeyed.' 

" One day we were approaching a bouse, and a little boy 
saw us coming. He ran in and said : ; Mother. I want my 
face washed, and a clean apron on ; for Bishop Asbury is 
coming, and I am sure he will hug me up.' The Bishop 
loved to hug the children to his heart, which always beat 
with such pure affection toward them." 

The Eev. Dr. TVightman. who was a Bishop of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, South, says, that among his 
earliest recollections, " is a tolerably vivid impression of a 
venerable old man. shrunk and wrinkled, wearing knee- 
breeches and shoe-buckles, dressed in dark drab, whose 
face to a child's eye would have seemed stern, but for the 
gentleness of his voice and manner toward the little peo- 
ple. It was the custom of my honored and sainted mother, 
no doubt at the instance of the Bishop himself, to send her 
children to pay him a visit whenever he came to the city. 
The last one was made in company with my two younger 
brothers. The Bishop had some apples on the mantel- 
piece of the chamber where the little group of youngsters, 
the eldest only seven years old, were introduced. After a 
little religious talk suitable to our years and capacity, the 
venerable man put his hands on our heads, one after an- 
other, with a solemn prayer and blessing ; and dismissed 
us. giving the largest apple to the smallest child, in a man- 
ner that left upon me a life-long impression." * 

The fact that Bishop Asbury published a letter which 
he received from a little boy. suggests that he may have 
corresponded with the little ones. That letter is inter- 
esting for the light it sheds on Asbury's relations with 
children : 

March 20, 1803. 

" Dear Papa Assert : I take the opportunity to let 
you know that I am bound for heaven and glory : and in- 

* • • Biographical Sketches of Eminent Itinerant Ministers." 



Amekican Methodism. 



285 



form you of the blessed treasure I have found since I saw 
you — that is, the love of God in my soul. Glory, glory to 
my blessed Jesus, that he gave me to see that I was a sin- 
ner, and that I now feel his love in my soul. ... I should 
be very happy to see you this summer. We have happy 
times, my dear papa. ... I hope you will excuse my lib- 
erty in writing, for I love you, and I want you to know 
how good the Lord is to poor unworthy me. Please to 
remember me in your prayers that I may be faithful unto 
the end. 

" I remain your unworthy boy, 

"John Talbutt." * 

A well-known lady, now eighty-three years old — Mrs. 
Rev. Dr. John S. Porter, of New Jersey — has a very clear 
remembrance of Bishop A sbury kissing her in her fathers 
house when she was a child. She remembers, too, the 
Bishop's " sweet face." 

Asbury, as we have seen, was greatly interested in the 
education of the young, and he sought to establish schools 
for that purpose. In 1791 he wrote an appeal to the 
Church on the subject of Christian education. In it he 
said: "A real concern for the rising offspring has been 
very weighty on my mind for many years." In closing 
the appeal, he said : " We have small hopes of coming 
properly at the lambs of the flock till you have schools 
of your own founding and under your own direction. If 
what I have advised, with any improvements, shall be 
found acceptable, it will give rest and joy to my mind. I 
have served you almost twenty years. I can only say they 
are your children I want taught, and can assure you it is 
in my heart to live and die with and for both parents and 
children." f 

* " Extracts of Letters Containing Some Account of the Work of God 
Since the Year 1800. Written by the Preachers and Members of the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church to their Bishops." New York, 1805. 

f ' Methodist Quarterly," 1830, pp. 236, 237. 



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Centennial History of 



Bishop Asbury dreaded becoming useless. To do good 
was his absorbing ambition. In 1792 he wrote: "I have 
had some awful thoughts lest my lameness should grow 
upon me and render me useless." When age and infirmity 
were upon him he distributed tracts and Testaments. In the 
summer of 1810 he made this record : " People call me by 
my name as they pass me on the road, and I hand them a 
religious tract in German or English ; or I call at the door 
for a glass of water and leave a little pamphlet.* How may 
I be useful ? I am old and feeble and sick, and can do 
little." Again in 1815 he writes : "As a member of the 
Bible Society in Philadelphia I have distributed many 
hundreds of Testaments." Again, a little after, being in 
Ohio, he says : " We have given away many Testaments 
to the poor on our route hither, and they were in all cases 
received with thankfulness. We accompany our gifts with 
prayer and exhortation when opportunities offer." While 
thus distributing the Scriptures, " he exultingly said to a 
friend : ' If ever I sowed good seed in my life I am sure 
that I am sowing it now.' " 

For more than thirty-one years succeeding his election 
to the Superintendence 7 of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
Bishop Asbury went through the nation, sowing beside all 
waters. His holy example, wise words, faithful and tender 
appeals by the way-side and the fireside, together with his 
administrative labors, his prayers, and his sermons, were a 
benediction upon the land. His influence was vastly more 
diffused among, and yet more effectively concentrated 
upon, the people than that of any statesman or president. 
He was a living and mighty spiritual power in the country, 
and he was so felt from Maine to Georgia. He was by far 
the greatest moral force in the United States for a genera- 

*On "Historical Day" at Ocean Grove, August 12, 1884, the Rev. Dr. 
Charles H. Whitecar exhibited a small book or tractate, of perhaps 100 
pages or less, which Bishop Asbury presented to his father, BeDjamin 
Whitecar, in the year 1814. 



American Methodism. 



287 



tion. The country owes quite as much to him for his spir- 
itual leadership as it owes to Washington for his military 
achievements. When independence was won by the sword 
of Washington, Asburv was at hand to bear the Cross over 
the Republic, and by it to transform neglected deserts 
into gardens of moral fruitfulness and beauty. He was a 
great pioneer evangelist, by whose agency the Gospel was 
preached and churches reared in new and sparsely-settled 
territory, as well as in the populous districts of the Union. 

For this work "he used his influence with those who 
were able to supply his lack of means. He obtained 
donations in one part of the country where plenty abound- 
ed, and conveyed them to other parts that were deficient. 
Such supplies have frequently been conveyed hundreds of 
miles and distributed among the needy preachers to enable 
them to go on in spreading the word of life among those 
who were not able, or those who for want of grace were 
not willing, to support the ministry of the Gospel. Thus 
the mountains, the wilderness, and the remote settlements 
were visited. The praises of God were heard in the log 
houses covered with slabs or bark ; and the poor, wretched 
inhabitants of miserable huts and forlorn cottages were 
brought to be subjects of converting and sanctifying grace. 
Asbury had his whole heart and soul set upon this work, 
and upon raising the means to carry it on. This was par- 
ticularly manifested in what he called The Mite, Subscription 
which he had always with him and presented it to those 
who were able and willing to contribute their mite (none 
were to subscribe more than one dollar) for the purpose 
of spreading the Gospel throughout the land/' * 

The evangelical labors of Asbury were probably without 
example. " It has been asserted by one of the ex-Presi- 
dents of the Wesleyan Conference — and the admission is 
remarkable coming from that quarter — that Bishop Asbury 
was in labors more abundant than Wesley himself. 1 see 

The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper on Asbury. 



288 



Centennial History of 



no reason to question the accuracy of Dr. Bangs' s estimate, 
which is, that Asbuiy, during the forty-five years of his 
ministry in this country, delivered not less than sixteen 
thousand four hundred and twenty-five sermons, besides 
lectures and exhortations innumerable ; that he traveled 
during the same time about two hundred and seventy 
thousand miles, for the most part on the worst of roads, 
and on horseback ; that he sat in not less than two hun- 
dred and twenty-four Annual Conferences ; and ordained 
more than four thousand ministers. This is a series of 
great labors, to which I doubt if the whole history of Chris- 
tianity, for eighteen centuries, can find a parallel. He 
found five hundred Methodists in the country when he be- 
gan his ministerial labors ; at his death he left a flourish- 
ing Church in all parts of the land, with more than two 
hundred and eleven thousand communicants, and served by 
upward of seven hundred traveling, besides three thousand 
local, preachers." * 

Bishop Asbury was invited by the British Wesleyan 
Conference to visit England. He, on the fifth of April, 
1813, wrote a reply. He said : " A few days ago I re- 
ceived your generous invitation ; and I feel a grateful 
sense of the obligation which you lay me under by the 
honor and unmerited respect which you have paid to my 
wishes. These were, and still are, that I may see you as a 
body of ministers, witness your order, the steadfastness of 
your faith in Christ, and your zeal to spread the Gospel 
throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and the isles of the sea. 
I had hoped to sail in May, accompanied by two young men 
in the ministry, and to land in June on my native shore ; 
and, after spending about three months in England, return 
to America. In this affair we have not used lightness ; 
that would ill become a man in the sixty-eighth year of 
his age, and fifty-third of his ministry. I shall look for- 
ward, in hope, to the years 1814, 1815 ; it may be thought 

* Dr. Wightman, in "Biographical Sketches." 



American Methodism. 



289 



a forlorn hope, considering that I am bound to attempt, in 
the unevennesses of this continent, and in all the inclement 
changes, to ride five thousand miles in eight months, to 
meet ten Conferences, as one of the Superintendents ; and 
that in addition to all this, being subject to a periodical 
lameness every year, I have to be handed into congrega- 
tions, houses, ferry-boats, etc. 

" When I wrote to my friends, Coke and Roberts, to in- 
form them of my intention to visit the spot which gave me 
birth, I fondly hoped that our General Conference would 
see their way open to elect one or two Superintendents; 
but in this I was disappointed. If the proposed visit be 
paid, it will be in mutual love, for the purpose of spiritual 
edification." 

In April, 1815, less than a year before his death, Asbury 
again addressed a letter to the British Conference, in which 
he said : " We have received your last letter, in which you 
expressed a readiness to receive us, could we visit you, ac- 
cording to our former wishes and intimations, and we hope, 
that in obedience to the will of God, if fully manifested to 
us, we shall be ready, not only to change countries, but 
worlds. But your aged friend, having been more or less 
asthmatic for about sixty years, feeble in his limbs, but 
abundantly weaker in his lungs, is in a great measure un- 
fitted for public service, and even for social intercourse." 
Thus he appears to have been literally " worn out." 

Having contemplated Asbury's qualifications for his great 
mission in America, and the way he fulfilled that mission, 
let us now take a fuller view of him in the pulpit. 

As it respects his presence, he is thus described by the 
Rev. Thomas Scott : " He was now about forty-four years 
of age, and about five feet eight inches in height. His 
bones were large, but not his muscles. His voice was 
deep-toned, sonorous, and clear. His articulation and em- 
phasis were very distinct. His features were distinctly 
marked, and his intellectual organs were well balanced 
13 



290 



Centennial Histoky of 



and finely developed. His hair and complexion when he 
was young were light, and his eye-lashes nn commonly 
long. ~No one could look upon his countenance without 
feeling that he was in the presence of a great man. His 
very look inspired awe, veneration, and respect. His gen- 
eral appearance was that of a person born to rale."* The 
Rev. Francis M'Cormick, also a contemporary of Asbury, 
in the last century, says : " There was evidently something 
apostolic in Mr. Asbury. From my first hearing him in 
Virginia I was always charmed with him, and heard him 
as often as possible." 

Asbury was an earnest preacher. He was in all respects 
a thoroughly earnest man. When he entered the pulpit 
his single object was to do good. Upon that object he 
poured his whole being. Not to entertain them or to win 
their applause did he go before his congregations, but to 
show them the way of salvation, and to persuade them in 
Christ's stead to be reconciled to God. Hence he spared 
not himself nor his hearers. " Could I be less earnest 
when I preach," he writes, " I might have less bodily suf- 
fering ; but it may not be." 

' ( The love of Christ [did him] constrain, 

To seek the wandering souls of men; 
With cries, entreaties, tears, to save, 

And snatch them from a gaping grave." 

The preaching of Asbury was with the Holy Ghost 
sent down from heaven. In September, 1813, he preached 
at West Union, Ohio. " I was turned into another man," 
says he. " The Spirit of God came powerfully upon me, 
and there was a deep feeling among the people." Sixteen 
years previously he preached to a full house, and says : " I 
was uncommonly assisted in preaching, and there was 
much weeping in the congregation." 

Again in 1813 he says : " I preached in the tabernacle 

* Bennett's "Methodism in Virginia." 



American Methodism. 



291 



on 2 Cor. v, 11. If the people say it was like thunder and 
lightning I shall not be surprised. I spoke in power from 
God, and there was a general and deep feeling in the con- 
gregation. Thine, O Lord, be all the glory ! " In the fall of 
1815, only a few months before death hushed his voice, of 
an occasion on which he preached, he says : " We had a feel- 
ing time. I spoke awful words." Of a sermon he preached 
some years before, he said : "I think my words pierced the 
hearts of some like a sword." The Kev. Henry Smith 
mentions a sermon the Bishop preached in Baltimore. 
He says : " Shortly after the new church was opened in 
Eutaw Street I heard Bishop Asbury preach a plain, close 
sermon in said church. I think it was the first time he 
preached in that church. His text was, ' Seeing then that 
we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech.' 
The discourse was plain and powerful. He expressed a 
fear that the Baltimoreans were departing from the sim- 
plicity of the Gospel. He reproved them in the spirit of 
a father, and raised his voice and cried aloud, ' Come back ! 
come back ! come back ! ' raising his voice higher at every 
repetition. His looks are still imprinted on my mind, and 
the solemn words, ' Come back, come back, come back,' 
still seem to sound in my ears." 

Dr. Bangs describes a scene in the same church while 
Asbury was preaching during the General Conference of 
1808. "Having delivered a severe reproof to those 
parents; who indulge their children in worldly frivolities, 
he suddenly paused, and said, 'But you will say, this 
is hard. Alas/ he added, letting his voice fall from a 
commanding and majestic tone to one that was barely 
audible, * it is harder to be damned.' These words, 
uttered in a manner that showed the deepest emotion, fell 
upon his audience, wrought up as they were by what had 
immediately preceded, with prodigious power, and sobs 
and groans were almost instantly heard throughout the 
house. The venerable Otterbein, of noble and dignified 



292 



Centennial History of 



bearing, who was sitting in the pulpit, was turned into a 
child. The tears flowed down his face like a river." 

The Rev. James Quinn describes a camp-meeting oc- 
casion in 1810, in which Asburj was a chief figure. "The 
Bishop," says Quinn, "had a heavy day's journey in 
reaching the place. He was weary and hungry ; but, after 
a good night's rest, he appeared in the encampment next 
morning — the Lord's Day — comfortably refreshed and in 
good spirits. And O, with what holy fervor did he preach 
the unsearchable riches of Christ, while listening thousands 
felt that the Lord of hosts was with him. O, day of 
days, not to be forgotten." The Rev. Henry Boehm 
says: " I remember one very impressive scene under his 
preaching in Union Church, Philadelphia. The congre- 
gation was large and was moved to its extremities by in- 
tense excitement of a most hallowed character. It was an 
occasion long to be remembered." Thus it is seen that 
through his years of vigor, and down to old age, the word 
of Asbury was with power. 

His sermons were adapted to instruct and edify rather 
than to excite his congregation. He probably appealed 
more to the understanding than to the emotions. Says the 
Eev. Thomas Scott, who heard him often : " His sermons 
resembled the lessons of an intellectual parent giving in- 
struction to the children he tenderly loved." The late 
reverend and venerable Henry Boehm assured the author 
of these pages that a great unction accompanied Asbury 's 
preaching. Mr. Boehm also characterized him as an evan- 
gelical preacher. He preached God's word, and fed the 
flock of Christ. 

That his preaching was accompanied with unction would 
be supposed from his close intimacy with Cod in prayer. 
A man who prayed as did Asbury must have carried to 
the pulpit the aroma of the closet. Toward the close of 
his life he, in a letter, said : " I believe I have spent a 
seventh, if not a sixth, of forty years in vocal and mental 



Ameeican Methodism. 



293 



prayer." So his word was in demonstration of the Spirit 
and of power. 

No man, probably, heard Bishop Asbury preach as often 
as the Rev. Henry Boehm. " I have heard him," he says, 
" over fifteen hundred times. His sermons were script- 
urally rich. He was a good expounder of the word of God, 
giving the meaning of the writer, the mind of the Spirit. 
He was wise in his selection of texts. There was a rich 
variety in his sermons ; no tedious sameness, no repeating 
old, stale truths. He could be a son of thunder or of con- 
solation. He was great at camp-meetings, on funeral occa- 
sions, and at ordinations. I have heard him preach fifty 
ordination sermons, and they were the most impressive I 
have ever heard. 

" In preaching, he, like the fathers, depended much on 
the divine influence. He knew it was not by might, nor by 
power, but by the Spirit of the Lord. He once took hold 
of the arm of the Rev. Samuel Thomas when he rose in 
the pulpit to preach, and whispered to him, 4 Feel for the 
power, feel for the power, brother.' He often felt for the 
power himself, and when he obtained it, he was a kind of 
moral Samson."* 

It is evident that Asbury was accustomed to so preach 
as to fasten the truth in the hearts of his hearers. Of this 
the fruitfulness of his ministry is a proof. The Rev. 
Thomas Smith, in April, 1802, says : "I met Bishop As- 
bury at Drummondtown, where he preached to an over- 
flowing congregation, who seemed to hear as if it were the 
last message of Jesus Christ to which they were listening." 
The Rev. William Colbert, July 3, 1793, speaks of hearing 
Asbury, and says : " The discourse was made a blessing to 
me." July 21, 1796, he says: "Began our quarterly- 
meeting in Milford. Bishop Asbury preached much to 
the purpose." His arrows were w T ell aimed. 

Like most extemporaneous speakers, Asbury was not 

*Boehm's Reminiscences. 



294 



Centennial History of 



always equally fluent in thought and expression. In 1774, 
when lie was under thirty, he says : " It seems strange, 
that sometimes, after much premeditation and devotion, I 
cannot express my thoughts with readiness and perspi- 
cuity; whereas at other times, proper passages of Scripture 
and apt expressions occur without care or much thought. 
Surely this is of the Lord, to convince us that it is not by 
power, nor by might, but by his Spirit, the work must be 
done. Nevertheless, it is doubtless our duty to give our- 
selves to prayer and meditation, at the same time depend- 
ing entirely upon the grace of God, as if we had made no 
preparation." 

It is probable that no candid and unprejudiced observer 
of Francis Asbury, in the last forty years of his life, ever 
pronounced him to be a weak man, intellectually or morally. 
His character rose into grandeur. His intellect, acute, 
solid, massive, powerful, was every- where recognized and 
felt. His preaching, the product of such a character and 
mind, and throbbing with spiritual feeling, was a power 
in the Church and in the land. Greatness was visible in 
his countenance and mien. Dr. Coke, on his first inter- 
view with him, says : " I exceedingly reverence Mr. Asbury. 
He has so much simplicity, like a little child; so much 
wisdom and consideration ; so much meekness and love ; 
and under all this, though hardly to be perceived, so much 
command and authority, that he is exactly qualified for a 
primitive Bishop." * Thomas Ware reports Coke as say- 
ing : " In the presence of Brother Asbury I feel myself a 
child. He is, in my estimation, the most apostolic man I 
ever saw, except Mr. Wesley." Dr. Coke, in his Journal 
in 1787, says : " Mr. Asbury, who is assuredly a great man 
of God, has treated me with much respect." 

John Kingston, a Wesley an preacher, who was in the 
United States in 1794, says: "I again met with the ven- 
erable Mr. Asbury. His conversation was animating and 

* Coke's Journal, " Arminian Magazine," (American,) vol. i, p. 244. 



American Methodism. 



295 



profitable, and I enjoyed the greatest satisfaction in Iris 
company. His sound judgment, exemplary piety, and in- 
defatigable labors in the ministry, render him a great 
blessing both to the preachers and people in the United 
States." * The Rev. Joshua Marsden, also an English 
Wesleyan preacher, who was detained in New York in 
consequence of the last war with England, in a letter dated 
January 8, 1814, and published in the " Arminian Maga- 
zine " of that year, says : " Mr. Asbury is nearly worn 
down by age, labors, and infirmities ; yet the good old 
veteran seems determined to die in the work. His mem- 
ory, his voice, and his talents for preaching and presiding 
seem very little diminished. His hair is as white as snow, 
and the venerable furrows on his aged face strongly remind 
one of the simplicity and gravity of a primitive Bishop." 

All who came near to Asbury seem to have realized his 
greatness. The Rev. Nicholas Snethen, who traveled with 
him in the first years of the present century, and who, 
except Mr. Boehm, probably had the best opportunities of 
knowing him, appreciated the grandeur of the American 
Bishop. Snethen was a very able man, and did not agree 
with him altogether with respect to ecclesiastical polity ; 
but he says, Mr. Asbury u was my father, and wo agreed 
to disagree." Snethen says : " Mr. Asbury's moral cour- 
age was equal to his industry." He speaks of " the vast 
ability with which this great man " fulfilled his office, and 
also speaks of "the mighty energies of his mind." lie 
says : "Above all, pre-eminent, as a star of the first mag- 
nitude, shone Francis Asbury. In him were concentrated 
the directing mind and the animating soul necessary to 
direct and move the whole body. There was one point 
in which this chief man in our Israel challenges uni- 
versal admiration, and that was the impulse he gave to 
experimental and practical religion. It is impossible for 
the most able of his admirers to convey to those who knew 

* London "Arminian Magazine," 1109, p. 264. 



296 



Centennial History of 



not the man and his communication, any adequate concep- 
tion of his virtue-inspiring influence over the minds of the 
preachers." 

The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, who was a leader in the 
days of Asbury, and who knew the Bishop long and 
well, says: "In almost every circle where he moved he 
gained a kind of irresistible ascendency, like a father in 
his family, and a ruler in Israel. We well know what 
influence his presence had, what weight his words car- 
ried, and with what decision his opinion would settle 
the doubtful question. It was almost impossible to ap- 
proach and converse with him, without feeling the strong 
influence of his spirit and presence. There was something 
in this remarkable fact, almost inexplicable and indescrib- 
able. It appeared as though the very atmosphere in which 
he moved gave unusual sensations of diffidence and re- 
straint to the boldest and most undaunted confidence of 
man. 6 Take him all and in all, his like we shall never see 
again.' Another Francis Asbury, another like him, we 
shall neither have nor know again." * Mr. Cooper also 
said : " I have had a particular and intimate knowledge of 
Francis Asbury and the manner of his life. We have 
had a confidential intercourse, an intimate friendship, and 
union of heart. I am confidently persuaded, take him all 
and in all, that no man in America ever came up to his 
standard." 

Still earlier fathers of the Church spoke in strong terms 
of Asbury 's extraordinary character. The first native 
itinerant, William Watters, said of him : " A greater 
charge than the love of power has been brought against 
Mr. Asbury, though I believe only by a few, even that of 
the love of money. I think a devil ought to blush, if it 
were possible, at such a charge. Where is all that he has 
been heaping up for near these forty years ? I confess if 
this were his object, he has stood so high in the estimation 

* Cooper's "Funeral Sermon on Asbury," pp. 25, 26. 



American Methodism. 



297 



of many that lie might have accumulated considerably by 
this time. But is it so ? Where is it % I have been as 
long and as intimately acquainted with him as most men 
in America, and I must give this testimony : Of all men 
that I have known he is, in my estimation, the clearest of 
the love of money, and the most free to give away his all 
in every sense of the word." * The Rev. John Dickins said 
of Asbury in 1798 : " I have frequently settled his book 
of private accounts, in which I have always found that he 
has charged himself with the donations of his friends, or 
whatever money he has received, and credited himself with 
nothing but twenty-four pounds a year, and his traveling 
expenses. At the close of the year the balance has been car- 
ried to the proper side of a new account for another year. 
When he left this city last he had not money enough to bear 
his expenses for one month. I shall conclude with adding 
that, from my long and intimate acquaintance with him, I 
think I never knew a man so disinterested as Mr. As- 
bury." f Mr. Dickins further testified of his excellence : 
" Mr. Asbury does not bear a character like many others, 
so superficial as not to admit of examination beneath its 
surface, but like fine gold, the more it is scrutinized the 
more its intrinsic worth appears. Therefore they who 
have most thoroughly investigated his character, both as a 
Christian and a minister, admire it most." % 

Mr. Dickins died of yellow fever in Philadelphia in 
1798. After Bishop Asbury's mother died he contributed 
to the support of the widow of his friend. Says Henry 
Boehm: "He not only supported Mrs. Dickins while he 
lived, but left provision in his will that she be paid eighty 
dollars a year till her death. This sum I paid her annually, 
as his executor, till she died." Respecting Bishop As- 
bury's generosity, Ezekiel Cooper says : u Of gold and 

* Life of Watters. 

f " Methodist Magazine," Philadelphia, 1198. 

% Quoted by Emory in " Defense of Our Fathers." 

13* 



298 



Centennial History of 



silver lie had but little at any time, nor any other property ; 
and therefore from want of pecuniary means he could not 
distribute abundantly of the good things of this life ; but 
of such as he had of temporal things he was always ready 
to communicate. If he had two garments of one kind, 
and saw a poor brother in need, would he not cheer- 
fully give him one? And would he not readily divide 
the contents of his scanty purse with a brother who was 
destitute i " 

The Rev. Freeborn Garrettson thus spoke of this won- 
derful hero : " Francis Asbury has gone from his hard 
toil, and reposes with the blessed in Abraham's bosom. 
He was often afflicted, especially when far advanced in 
life, and frequently traveled and labored when he could 
scarcely put one foot before the other. A more indefati- 
gable preacher I never knew. Few men have a greater 
knowledge of human nature than he had. My intimacy 
with him was of about forty years' standing, and I can 
truly say that his deportment called for respect wher- 
ever he went. He was, I believe, perfectly free from 
the love of the world. The powers of his mind were 
strong." * 

Several of Bishop Asbury's traveling companions have 
borne emphatic testimony to the transcendent excellence 
of his character. The Rev. Daniel Hitt was one of them, 
and in a letter to Dr. Clarke, of England, he said : u I 
have had a long and intimate acquaintance with Mr. 
Asbury, and think for sincere piety he has been exceeded 
but by few ; for plainness of dress and simplicity of man- 
ners he was almost proverbial ; and for zeal, perseverance, 
and endurance of sufferings, I doubt whether he was 
equaled by any man now living." 

All who enjoyed an intimacy with the venerable and saint- 
ly Boehm, the celebrated centenarian and the last survivor of 
the traveling companions of Asbury, knew with what af- 

* Garrettson's Semi-Oentenuial Sermon. 1826. 



American Methodism. 



299 



fectionate reverence lie cherished the memory of the great 
Bishop. He says : " For five years I not only traveled 
with the venerable Asbury, but slept with him. When he 
was quite ill I would wrap myself in my blanket and lie 
clown on the floor beside the bed and watch till I heard him 
call 6 Henry,' and then I would rise, and minister to his 
wants. Being so feeble he needed a great deal of atten- 
tion. Many times have I taken him from his horse and 
carried him in my arms into private houses and meeting- 
houses, where he would sit down and expound the word of 
life to the astonishment of those who heard him. I also 
carried him from the houses and placed him upon his 
horse. He often preached sitting down, not so much in 
imitation of his Lord, as because he could not stand up. 

" Bishop Asbury possessed more deadness to the world, 
more of a self-sacrificing spirit, more of the sjnrit of prayer, 
of Christian enterprise, of labor, and of benevolence, than 
any other man I ever knew. Ho was the most unselfish 
being I was ever acquainted with. Bishop Whatcoat I 
loved, Bishop M'Kendrce I admired, Bishop Asbury I 
venerated." 

It was Asbury's felicity to live long enough to see the 
Church he founded firmly established in the land. He 
found the Methodists in America a feeble and a " little 
flock." In a letter to Coke, September 2, 1811, he says : 
"When I came hither, in 1771, we had five hundred in so- 
ciety, who were more nominal than real members."* In a 
letter to the Rev. Stith Mead, of January 16, 1813, he said : 
" Serious times with mo, an old soldier of Jesus. I handle 
my crutch and say how fields were won. In the sixty-eighth 
year of my age, fifty-second year of my ministry, forty- 
second year of my American mission, I have lived to see two 
hundred thousand in Methodist fellowship, three thousand 
local laborers, seven hundred traveling laborers. We have 
established the ninth, and appointed the tenth, Conference 

* "Methodist Magazine." London, 1812, p. 316. 



300 



Centennial History of 



on Mississippi,* a complete circuit for the President around 
the United States lines five thousand miles, and meet ten 
Conferences in twelve months." Had Bishop Asbury 
died at the age of fifty it is impossible to tell what would 
have been the fortunes of the young Church. It is 
doubtful whether any other man could have maintained its 
unity and system, especially the itinerancy, with the Bish- 
op's appointing power, during those critical years. There 
was no General Conference for almost seven years after 
the Christmas Conference, and until 1796 the ecclesiastical 
organization of American Methodism was but imperfectly 
accomplished. Asbury, by his influence, wisdom, and au- 
thority, maintained the order and stability of the Church 
until its polity was definitively shaped by the General 
Conference. 

The preachers came into the work during his superintend- 
ency, and they developed under his eye. By his example, 
his spirit, and his instructions, he shaped their ministerial 
character. They esteemed him as a father, and such they 
called him. His personal influence was so potent that lie 
could ever rally his standard-bearers to his side. They were 
ready always to march under his orders. As the ranks 
thinned by death and location he gathered recruits for the 
itinerancy. Says one of his contemporaries : " At the age 
of seventy Mr. Asbury could scarcely recognize half a 
dozen of the primitive American preachers in the Confer- 
ences. Poverty and location had anticipated death." He, 
however, was able to maintain the numerical status of the 
ministry by " a succession of young men." 

He was, therefore, in close sympathy with the young 
men. He gave them consideration. He was alert to espy 

* This Conference Bishop Asbury never reached, though he aimed to do 
so. The Rev. Daniel Hitt says that, in a letter written from Kentucky, 
only about six months before the death of Asbury, the writer said concern- 
ing the Bishop : " I find he contemplates a visit to Natchez, on the Missis- 
sippi, a journey of some hundreds of miles through an uninhabited country," 



Ameeican Methodism. 



301 



promising candidates for the pulpit. At one time lie says : 
" Met with Henry Jones, a serious young man, and believe 
he is called to the work of the ministry. I advised him to 
go with me." One who observed his administration says: 
" One of the points in which we used to differ from Mr. 
Asbury was his aptness to employ young men. It was 
matter of wonder to us how so old a man could mani- 
fest so great a predilection for the young." Herein he 
was wise. The work was always extending. The older 
preachers, who did not fall by death, were ever retiring 
from stress of poverty or failure of health. Except young 
men were brought forward, the work must languish and 
the great aggressive campaigns of the Church must end. 
Besides, the triumphs of early Methodism were won chiefly 
by young men. Asbury understood this : " The young 
preachers for action, and action for success." So with 
heart and hand he took hold upon young men. 

Bishop Asbury's manner of treating young men is shown 
by a passage in the history of the Rev. Thomas Smith, 
who joined the itinerancy in 1798: "The Rev. Jesse Lee," 
says Mr. Smith, " gave me an introduction to the Bishop. 
He asked me if I were the young man who went out from 
Chestertown, after the last Conference in Philadelphia ; 
whether the work of God prospered where I had traveled, 
and many other questions, which I answered as well as I 
could. He gave me much counsel, and closed by saying, 
' Thomas, be faithful to God ; be faithful to his Church ; 
be faithful to yourself.' When he dismissed me, 4 A 
thousand blessings on his soul,' thought I, 'for his good 
advice.' " 

One of the most beautiful spirits of the early American 
itinerancy was Caleb B. Pedicord, the father in God of the 
Rev. Thomas Ware. How Asbury thrust Pedicord forth 
into the itinerant field, the latter briefly describes in a 
letter to Ware : " When Asbury pressed me to become an 
itinerant," says Pedicord, " I said, ' God had called me to 



302 



Centennial History of 



preach, and woe be unto me if I preach not,' but I had 
not conviction that he had called me to itinerate. ' No 
conviction, my son,' said he to me sternly, 6 that you 
should follow the directions of Him who commissioned 
you to preach ? Has the charge given to the disciples, 
" Go and evangelize the world," been revoked ? Is the 
world evangelized ? ' He said no more. I looked at the 
world ; it was not evangelized." 

Pedicord mounted his horse, and went forth to bear a 
part in the great work of the world's evangelization, in 
which enterprise he toiled, triumphed, and died. Thus did 
Asbury discover and press into the service of the Church 
devoted and gifted young men. 

His treatment of young preachers is illustrated by a 
scene in the life of the Eev. Joseph Travis. Mr. Travis 
says : " When my name was called in Conference, and the 
usual question asked, if there was any thing against me, 
my Presiding Elder answered, ' Nothing against him.' I 
was in the act of walking out, and got nearly to the door, 
when Bishop Asbury remarked, 4 1 have something against 
Brother Travis.' I turned round to ascertain what it was. 
He said that he understood I had been studying Greek 
this year. I pleaded guilty to the charge, but remarked 
that in so doing I viewed myself as treading in the foot- 
steps of some of our most worthy and excellent brethren. 
He made a few remarks on the danger of preachers neg- 
lecting the more important part of their work, namely, 
the salvation of souls, for the mere attainment of human 
science. He then bade me retire. The next day, meeting 
with me by myself, he took me in his arms and gave me 
an affectionate hug, requesting me not 'to think hard of 
his remarks the day before; that he merely designed whip- 
ping others over my shoulders.' I took it all in good 
part, for I always did truly love and esteem Bishop 
Asbury."* 

* "Autobiography of the Rev, Joseph Travis, M.A." 



American Methodism. 



303 



Before closing this analysis of the character of Asbury, 
let us briefly view him in his filial relation. He was a 
son, and what a son ! In a letter to his father and mother 
he says : " I last evening made an arrangement for a remit- 
tance to yon by my agent, John Dickins, with Mr. Suck- 
ley, the yonng man that made you a visit last year. This 
sum will come into your hands in three or four months. 
My salary is fourteen pounds ten shillings sterling. I have 
sold my watch and library, and would sell my shirts before 
you should want. I have made a reserve for you. I spend 
very little on myself. My friends find me some clothing. 
I might have money, but the wicked world and those that 
leave our Connection strive, to blacken my character, by 
saying I have the profits of books at my command, and 
profits from the college and the schools established in 
many parts of America. These reports I am able to refute, 
and yet they say, 6 He remits money to his parents every 
year.' The contents of a small saddle-bag will do for me, 
and one coat in the year. I am well satisfied the Lord saw- 
fit that you should, be my parents rather than the king and 
queen. I sometimes think you will outlive me. I have 
made my will and left my all to you, and that's soon done. 
While I live I shall remember you every year — perhaps 
come to see you if you live many years." 

When Asbury was fifty years old he wrote his parents : 
" I am like Joseph — I want to have you near me. I am 
not ashamed of your poverty. When I think you have no 
child nor friend that careth for you, I want to have you 
near me. It is true, while I live you will live also, if I 
keep my place and piety." 

From Baltimore, October 30, 1795, he wrote them : " I 
have delivered into the hands of my agent the supply for 
the present year. By a late letter I am informed that it 
will soon be transmitted to you. Were it ten thousand 
per year, if I had it in my possession, you should be wel- 
come if you had need of it. No person could have b?en 



304 Centeitnial History of 

in more difficulty of circumstances than myself. It is 
wickedly reported of me that I collect money from the 
printing concern and college, and send it home to my 
friends in large sums. This is done by wicked men I have 
prevented from oppressing and robbing the Church of God. 
I hope you use carefully what I dearly purchase by riding 
six or seven thousand miles a Year, besides sitting in and 
conducting Conferences of two hundred preachers, and 
the charge of many things for the cause of Christ. The 
coat and waistcoat I now have on I have worn thirteen 
months, and I would not carry a second shirt if I could do 
without it. But all these things are but trifles. . . . Think 
not that any tiling comes grudgingly from me. Could you 
eat wedges of gold, if I bad them, you should be welcome 
to them.*' 

Again. July 29, 1796, he writes to "My very dear and 
never-to-be-forgotten parents : " (> I sincerely wish I could 
come to you. but I see no way without sinning against 
God and the Church. Hard' wear and hard fare. But I 
am healthy, and lean, gray-headed and dim-sighted. I hope 
I enjoy as much of religion, or more than ever — preaching, 
living, feeling. Yon know how long I served the Church 
for nothing. I might have money, but I am set for the 
defense of the Gospel.'' 

The following year he again wrote his parents, saying : 
" How will it be when I am gone to rest ! In ext to leaving 
the Church. I feel for you. If I should leave America I 
should break my heart ; and if I stay perhaps I shall break 
my constitution. But here I must die ! May you find a 
safe passage from England, and I from America, to glory ! 
I have settled with Dr. Coke for the ten pounds. If the 
doctor should oiler you money, you may take it. I shall 
use every prudential means to pay him." 

To his mother he wrote : " O my mother, let ns be holy, 
and watch and pray that we may meet in heaven. You have 
professed religion fifty years, living, feeling religion. A 



American Methodism. 



305 



mother you ought to be in Israel. Your numerous 
friends will hear and listen when you die, to know if your 
last days were peace and triumph. Were you to see me 
and the color of my hair — nearly that of your own. But 
still God is with me. My soul exults in God ! " 

In 1801 Bishop Asbury wrote to his friend Morrell : " I 
am clear with Mr. Wesley, i that the obligation of children 
to parents ceaseth but with life.' My dear mother is going 
swiftly, if not gone, after praying fifty-five years for me. 
I have often thought very seriously of my leaving my 
mother, as one of the most doubtful sacrifices I have made." 

Bishop Payne, in his " Life of Bishop M'Kendree," says 
he heard the Rev. Thomas L. Douglass say that he was 
much impressed by the remark of Asbury, that " he ex- 
pected to live to be an old man, because the divine promise 
to those who honor their father and mother applied to 
him." Bishop Payne adds that the evidence was before 
him [Payne] that Bishop Asbury "was in the habit of 
remitting annually to his widowed mother while she 
lived, all he could possibly spare." 

The Rev. Henry Boehm, who wandered with Asbury 
a hundred thousand miles, says : " He used frequently to 
mention his mother, and as he did so the tear would fill 
his blue eye." 

It is well known that he never married. This, however, 
was not because he did not honor womanhood. "Next 
to Mr. Wesley," says Thomas Ware, " Bishop Asbury was 
the most unwearied itinerant the world ever saw. No 
man I ever knew cherished a higher Christian regard for 
the female character than he ; yet for the sake of the 
itinerancy he chose a single life." 

After almost forty-five years of herculean labor for God 
in America, such as probably was never performed by any 
other man since Jesus ascended to heaven, this great prince 
and leader of American Methodism came to the end of his 
hardships and his toils. On Sabbath, the 24th of March, 



306 



Centennial History of 



1816, lie, being in Richmond, Va., insisted upon speaking 
to the people. His traveling companion, the Rev. John 
W. Bond, fearing the consequence, sought to dissuade 
him, but he replied, " God had given him a work to do 
there, and he must deliver his testimony." At the time 
appointed he was carried into the meeting-house. He sat 
in the pulpit upon a table, and preached his last sermon 
from the text, " For he will finish the work and cut it 
short in righteousness ; because a short work will the Lord 
make upon the earth." He preached for almost an hour, 
and when he ceased, he was nearly exhausted. The next 
Sabbath the celestial gates were to open for him, and he 
was to enter the Jerusalem of gold. 

From Richmond he traveled northward until Friday, 
when he reached the residence of George Arnold. With 
that family he had been acquainted for nearly forty years, 
and their house had long been a Methodist preacher's home. 
On Saturday it rained, and he did not proceed. On Sab- 
bath he was very feeble. He at one time inquired the 
hour of the day, and on being told that it was nearly 
eleven o'clock, he said, 4 Is it not time for meeting?" 
He was informed that none were present but the family. 
He then said, " Call them together ; I want to have 
meeting." 

When they were gathered Mr. Bond read the twenty-first 
chapter of Revelation, which contains the wonderful de- 
scription of the New Jerusalem. During the meeting "he 
appeared much elevated, and raised his hands frequently 
in token of triumph." Soon after his voice failed, but, 
says Mr. Bond, " he gave evidence that he possessed his 
reason till the last. A little before he died, finding that I 
was affected at his not being able to take a little barley- 
water which I offered to him in a tea-spoon, he lifted up 
his hand toward heaven in token that he should soon be 
there. I then asked him if he found that Jesus was pres- 
ent, when he raised both his hands toward heaven with an 



American Methodism. 



307 



expression I shall never forget. He then, without a groan 
or complaint, fell asleep in the arms of his Saviour, at four 
o'clock on Sunday, the 31st of March, 1816." Thus as- 
cended one of the purest, noblest, most useful souls that 
ever entered heaven. 

Asbury needs no marble, no epitaph, to commemorate 
his character, services, and achievements. Of him it may 
be said, in the American Republic anywhere, as is ex- 
pressed in the legend over the dust of Sir Christopher 
Wren in St. Paul's : " Would you see his monument ? 
Look around." That monument is the American Meth- 
odist Church. 

In writing of his departure, one who had been his trav- 
eling companion, the Rev. Daniel Hitt, said : " In many 
respects, in a religious point of view, I am persuaded that 
he has not left his equal upon earth." * On the day that 
Bishop Asbury died, Mr. Bond wrote to Mr. Hitt these 
tender, beautiful words : " Our dear father has left us, and 
gone to the Church triumphant. He died as he lived, full 
of confidence, full of love." 

* Letter of Daniel Hitt, in the " Lamp of Life," the Rev. J. S. Smart, D.D., 
editor, May, 1884. The original letter is in the possession of Mrs. Lydia 
Miller, Homer, Michigan. 



308 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JOHN DICKINS, THE FOUNDER OF THE BOOK CONCERN. 

JOHN" BICKINS was a foremost minister, not only 
of Methodism, but of America. In natural and 
gracious endowments, in mental acquisitions, and in de- 
votion to his sacred calling, he was excelled by few. 
He was among the chief workmen who laid the massive 
and enduring foundations of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. 

' Mr. Dickins was born and educated in the city of Lon- 
don. He came to America before the Revolution. Here 
he was converted about the year 1774, and soon after began 
his public religious labors. 

"We find him toiling as an evangelist with glorious suc- 
cess in Virginia in the summer of 1776. "On June the 
9th," he says, " we had a large congregation. I spoke 
on c E~o man can serve two masters.' Several appeared 
to be much distressed, two women in particular. We 
spent above an hour in prayer for them, and they arose in 
peace. When we met the class, we suffered all that de- 
sired to stay. The leader only j3ut a question or two to 
each member. This was scarce ended when the fire of 
God's love was kindled. Praises hung on the lips of 
many, and many cried out, 6 What must we do to be 
saved ? ' Thus it swiftly went on ; every now anoV then 
one rising with faith in Jesus. Surely this was one of the 
days of heaven." 

On Sunday, June 16, 1776, Dickins preached to an 
audience which he believed numbered four or five hun- 
dred. His text was, " This is the victory that overcometh 
the world, even our faith." Pie says : " This was a day of 



American Methodism. 



309 



Pentecost. Conviction seized on numbers who wrestled 
with God till their souls were set at liberty. A young 
woman told me ' she heard many people fell down, and 
she would come to help them up.' This she said in scorn. 
She came accordingly. The power of God soon seized 
her, and she wanted helping up herself. It was not long 
before He helped her by giving her faith in Christ. We 
believe twenty souls found peace this day. O may we see 
many such days ! " 

Soon Dickins witnessed another powerful manifestation 
of grace in connection with his labors. He says : " July 7 
I spoke to a large congregation. Afterward I was going 
to give out a hymn, when one was so powerfully struck 
that he could not hold a joint still, and roared aloud for 
mercy. I immediately went to prayer, the cries of the 
people meantime greatly increasing. After prayer Ben- 
jamin Tyus, late a great opposer, jumped up and began 
to praise God, with a countenance so altered that those 
who beheld him were filled with astonishment. Our 
meeting continued from twelve at noon to twelve at night, 
during which God raised up about fifteen more witnesses." 

On the 21st of July, 1776, he beheld " the power of the 
Lord " once more in "a large and attentive auditory." 
" The next day," he says, " I was much tempted to doubt 
whether I was sent of God to preach or not. I prayed 
earnestly to the Lord that he would satisfy me, and that 
he would keep all false fire from among us. Afterward 
I preached. While I was speaking, a mother and her 
daughter were so struck that they trembled in every joint. 
But before I concluded both found peace. Glory be to 
God!" 

These passages show the zeal and power which Dickins 
displayed in the beginning of his ministry. 

The year following the events above related, namely, in 
1777, Dickins was admitted on trial, and appointed with 
three others, one of whom was Le Roy Cole, to North 



310 



Centennial History of 



Carolina. Only thirty-five preachers, besides himself, were 
appointed at the Conference when Mr. Dickins joined. 
He may, therefore, be considered one of the earliest as well 
as one of the ablest evangelists that Methodism gave to 
the country. During the Revolution he labored in differ- 
ent portions of Virginia and North Carolina. 

At the Conference of 1781 his name is entered among 
those " who desist from traveling." Why he desisted is, 
perhaps, indicated by the remark of Asbury, June 19, 
1780: "Brother Dickins spoke on charity very sensibly, 
but his voice is gone." 

On the fifth of April* 1783, Asbury, in North Carolina, 
wrote : " This day I prevailed with Brother Dickins to go 
to New York, where I expect him to be far more useful 
than in his present station." Dickins was soon at his 
work, for June 24, 1783, there is a record in the old John 
Street book which shows his presence : " To cash to Mr. 
Dickins, £5 12." The Rev. J. B. Wakeley, in his "Lost 
Chapters," says : "In the spring of 1784 Mr. Dickins was 
re-appointed to New York. The record on the ' old book ' 
is very full, and his name occurs scores of times. They 
paid Mr. Dickins ten pounds a quarter salary, and so many 
pounds for provisions. All the other preachers had been 
single men. Mr. Dickins was the first man of family 
stationed in Wesley Chapel, his the first minister's family 
that resided in the parsonage." 

On the third of November of this year Dr. Coke landed 
at New York, where he disclosed to Dickins the purpose 
of his visit. Mr. Wakeley says : " December 8, 1784, is 
the following entry in the ' old book ' : ' To cash paid 
Brother Dickins for expenses to Conference, six pounds. " 
This was, no doubt, the Christmas Conference, at Balti- 
more, which assembled sixteen days subsequently. 

Mr. Dickins remained in New York two years. In 
1786 he returned to the city, and stayed three years. 
Thus of the six years, from 1783 to 1789, he spent five in 



American Methodism. 



311 



the metropolis. The transfer of so able a leader from 
North Carolina to New York after the war closed, and his 
retention for so long a period at that important post, shows 
the sagacity of Asburj. The Minutes omit New York in 
the statistical reports of 1783, consequently the size of 
the membership when Dickins entered upon his pastorate 
there is unknown. In the following year, 1784, however, 
New York reported only sixty members. Dickins, no 
doubt, found the society very feeble after the tumult and 
distractions of the Revolution. Under his hand the work 
progressed, and when he finally removed from the city, in 
1789, he left a membership of three hundred and sixty. 
The following year New York Methodism enjoyed a 
glorious revival, for which the wise and zealous administra- 
tion of Dickins was, no doubt, a grand preparation. The 
membership was thereby so increased that at the close of 
the year it numbered six hundred and twenty-four. John 
Dickins was one of the chief instruments in rehabilitating 
Methodism in New York after the war, and in laying 
well and securely the foundations of the newly organized 
Church in that great commercial emporium. 

In 1789 he removed to Philadelphia, where he re- 
mained until his death, a period of over nine years. 
There he fulfilled his ministry in one of the chief pas- 
torates of the Church. There, also, he began the work 
which gave him his chief distinction. He was the Book 
Steward of the denomination. In that office he founded 
the Methodist Book Concern, and by his learning, skill, 
fidelity, and industry he brought it in nine years from 
nothing to a degree of prominence and efficiency which 
made it not only an enduring monument of his genius, but 
an incalculable power for good in the world. 

When Dickins began his work as Book Steward the 
publications which the young Church needed were not 
considered sufficiently merchantable to induce the publish- 
ers ta issue them. It was important, however, that the 



312 



Centennial History of 



powerful aid of tlie press should be brought to the support 
of the rising Church. Accordingly. Dickins took the re- 
sponsibility of publishing a Methodist Hymn Book. In 
17S9 the Conference agreed to assume the publication, and, 
at its request, he consented to become Book Steward. 
The "Arminian Magazine" was issued for that and the suc- 
ceeding year from Philadelphia by Mr. Dickins. 

The first number of that periodical opened with a sketch 
of Arminius, which was followed by an article on the 
Synod of Dort. Then came a sermon by Mr. TTesley on 
1 Tim. vi, 9, after which two hymns were inserted. The 
title of the first hymn is, " Salvation Depends not on 
Absolute Decrees ; M and that of the second, " Universal 
Redemption." Then followed two religious poems, which 
concluded the fifty pages of the number. This number 
also contained a prefatory address " To the subscribers 
for the Arminian Magazine " signed by Coke and Asbmy, 
which occupied nearly four pages in italics. The address is 
dated North Carolina, April 10, 17S9. and appears in the 
January number of the same year. This shows that the 
magazine did not appear until some time subsequent to the 
month of its date. To the publication of Coke's Journal in 
that magazine we are indebted for much that we know of 
the Christmas Conference. That edition of the doctor's Jour- 
nal which sheds so much light on that momentous period 
of American Methodist history escaped the notice of the 
earlier historians of the denomination, except Lee. and he 
makes no mention of it. though it is probable that he was 
indebted to it for a few of his facts. * Lednum seems to 
have consulted it, though he does not mention it in his 
" Rise of Methodism." 

When two volumes of the '•Arminian Magazine" were 
completed, Dickins suspended it. Either because the 

* I have elsewhere said that the volume of Coke's Journal, published iu 
London in 1793. gives no intimation of important facts which are found in 

his Journal in Dickins's magazine of 17 S9. 



American Methodism. 



313 



returns were not adequate to justify its continuance, or 
for other reasons, its publication ceased. Had it lived, 
its successive volumes would have been an immense 
and invaluable treasury of facts and documents illustra- 
tive of the work and the heroes of the Church. In 
1797 another periodical was published by order of the 
General Conference of 1796, with the title of " The Meth- 
odist Magazine." It bore the following imprint : " Sold 
by John Dickins, No. 50 North Second Street, Philadel- 
phia, and by the Methodist ministers and preachers through- 
out the United States." It contains a note " To the 
Eeader," dated Philadelphia, December 17, 1796, which 
was, no doubt, written by Dickins. It is as follows : " The 
General Conference of the ministers and preachers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, assembled at Baltimore, in 
November, 1796, directed the publication of this magazine, 
and agreed to use its influence in promoting the circula- 
tion thereof ; and in this laudable design the two following 
considerations must have great weight : 

" 1. Eeligious knowledge as well as innocent and in- 
structive entertainment will by this means be extensively 
communicated ; and as it will be conducted on a plan of 
general usefulness, it may be beneficial to Christians of all 
denominations. Our desire is to be useful to all. 

" 2. The profits of this work, as well as the profits of all 
our other publications, will, so far as is declared and ex- 
plained in the Minutes of the aforesaid Conference, be cast 
into the Chartered Fund, which is now on foot, for the 
support of the traveling ministry. 

" It is intended that this magazine should be continued 
in monthly numbers, so long as sufficient encouragement 
% is given, to promote hereby the utility which we contem- 
plate and hope. 

" We can only say, further, that it shall be our great con- 
cern and diligent endeavor to make the whole as useful 
and pleasing as possible." 



314 



CZXTEXXIAL B.ISTOEY OF 



This magazine was published until the death of Dickins. 
Had he lived it is probable that his skill and energy would 
have maintained it. and in that ease the Church would have 
been the richer. Dickins died in September, 179S. and 
for months thereafter the publishing department of the 
Church was without a head, no doubt much to its detri- 
ment. The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, who succeeded Dickins 
as Editor and Book Steward, terminated the existence of 
the magazine when the volume for 179S was completed. 
There remain four volumes of the magazines published 
within something over a decade after the oganization of 
the Church.* Those volumes are monumental of the 
faith, the intelligence, and the energy of the infant Church. 
Their contents afford demonstration that some of the early 
American itinerants were men of grand intellect and con- 
siderable culture : men fit to stand among the great leaders 
of their time. 

They were, indeed, great men. and as such they wrought 
and achieved. To do the work which the early itinerants 
accomplished in the midst of the scorn of the wicked, the 
prejudices of even the righteous, and the contempt of the 
proud and the ignorant, stalwart workmen were necessary. 
The great and wonderful religious system known as Metk- 
odism was not shaped by pigmies, but by giants. The men 
who. in the face of mountainous difficulties and with 
slender human resources, founded and built with such amaz- 
ing wisdom, firmness, and strength the Methodist Church 
in this land, proved their greatness by their work. As the 
evidence of the senilis of Michael Angelo is the temple of 
St. Peter, so the proof of the superlative power of the 
primitive preachers of American Methodism is their mar- 
velous and enduring achievement. Among those great 
men Dickins was a foremost leader. 

* It is my privilege to have at this writing all of those volumes in my pos- 
session in a perfect condition, save that a part of the table of contents is 
missing from the volume of 1798. 



American Methodism. 



315 



Mr. Dickins loaned the publishing interest a small sum 
of money, and proceeded with the business. His first pub- 
lications, besides the Magazine and the Hymn Book, were 
Thomas a Kempis, " Primitive Physic," and " The Saint's 
Rest." In 1797 a Book Committee was constituted to aid, 
by its counsel and co-operation, the Agent in his work. 

Mr. Dickins conducted the editing and publishing en- 
terprise in a manner which won the highest commen- 
dation. The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, who knew him inti- 
mately, says : " The whole of his actions, public or private, 
appeared to be bent upon the glory of God, the honor 
and promotion of religion, the good of man, and the 
punctual discharge of those duties which become a good 
and faithful servant. Trace him through his temporal 
business in which he was employed in the world, and we 
see conscientious rectitude in all his dealings. Find him 
where you would, employed in whatever business, you 
discover in him a man professing and practicing religion ; 
not to be thwarted by any consideration from the regular 
discharge of his duties. I do not believe I ever knew a 
man to excel him in conscientious rectitude and genuine 
piety." * 

Dickins attended personally to all the details of the 
publishing business. Every thing passed under his watch- 
ful eye and skillful hand. Says Mr. Cooper : u He super- 
intended the printing, binding, and distribution of the 
various and numerous publications which we for years 
past have been sending out into the world. During the 
four years last past he has had published for the Connec- 
tion about one hundred and fourteen thousand books and 
pamphlets, in which he contracted with the different de- 
partments — such as paper-makers, printers, binders, etc. — 
besides correcting for the press, circulating the books, keep- 

* " A funeral discourse on the death of that eminent man, the late Rev. 
John Dickins. By the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper." Philadelphia, 1799, pp. 
11, 18. 



316 



Centennial History of 



ing the accounts, and minutely attending to the whole su- 
perintendency of this extensive work. This department 
he filled with fidelity and diligence as a good and faithful 
steward." * 

Falling suddenly in the midst of his labors, Mr. Dickins 
left the Book Concern well established, but in a condition 
of orphanage. No one was found to man the post which 
his lamented death left vacant. Bishop Asbury appointed 
the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper to the position, but he declined 
to serve. Finally, in June, 1799, the larger part of a 
year after Mr. Dickins's departure, Cooper was selected by 
the Conference, and was induced to accept, though reluc- 
tantly, the superintendency of the orphaned publishing 
establishment. 

Soon after entering upon his duties Mr. Cooper ad- 
dressed the following statement 

" To the Preachers and Members of the Methodist Episcopal Church: 

"After the death of that eminent man, the late Rev. John 
Dickins, our former Editor and General Book Steward, our 
book business was at a stand-still for about eight months. 
Consequently, the latter numbers of our Magazine for 1798 
have not appeared till long after the time intended for 
them to have been published. Our friends and subscribers 
will readily excuse this long delay when they are informed 
that, under existing circumstances, it was unavoidable. 

" Soon after the death of our worthy friend, John 
Dickins, Bishop Asbury appointed me to the place of 
Editor and General Book Steward for the Connection ; but 
for various reasons I then did not accept the appointment ; 
and, indeed, being aware of the many and great difficul- 
ties of the station, I did not intend to accept it at all. As 
there was no other appointed, the business could not go on. 

" In the month of June last, Bishop Asbury and the 
Philadelphia Conference unanimously- — except my own 

* Cooper's funeral discourse on Dickins, p. 21. 



American Methodism. 



317 



dissenting vote and one other — made choice of me to con- 
duct the business. They prevailed with me to accept the 
place, but I consented with considerable reluctance. My 
yielding was principally in compliance with the wishes of 
my brethren, and a desire that the work might go on ; 
which, if promoted, may answer an excellent purpose to the 
Connection. 

" As so much time has passed before the later numbers 
of the Magazine for 1798 could appear, and for other rea- 
sons, it is thought advisable to suspend the publication of a 
volume for 1799, especially as half the year is already 
past. Probably at a future period it will go on again, 
and, we hope, to the satisfaction and benefit of many. 

" We purpose going on with other publications, and ad- 
vise our brethren to be spirited and diligent in promoting 
the circulation and sale of our books. It is well understood 
that our Book Concern is intended for the benefit of the 
whole Connection, and particularly designed to spread re- 
ligious knowledge among mankind. The profits arising 
from the business are to be applied to religious purposes, 
and principally as an auxiliary to our brethren in spread- 
ing the Gospel. For this purpose the General Conference 
resolved that, after the debts are paid and a sufficient capi- 
tal be established to carry on the business, the profits of the 
Book Concern si i all be united with the Chartered Fund and 
be appropriated to the support of the ministry, to our 
worn-out and superannuated preachers, and to the widows 
and orphans of those who have been spent in the ministry. 
How should we strive together to promote a business 
which has for its objects such important ends ? 

"An Agent can do but little without the mutual endeav- 
ors of preachers and members in buying, selling, and cir- 
culating the books and making remittances. It is my 
opinion that if our brethren be but spirited and industri- 
ous in this business it will answer a great and valuable pur- 
pose to the Connection, to the cause of religion, and to the 



318 



Centennial History of 



good of souls. O, brethren, help ! Do what you can. 
Send for books and strive to spread religious knowledge 
abroad. You may do a great deal of good, and this is what 
you wish to do." 

This appeal is dated Philadelphia, July 29, 1799, and 
was published in the " Methodist Magazine " for the year 
1798, the issue of the last numbers of which is thereby 
shown to have been considerably subsequent to the date 
affixed to them. 

The condition in which Mr. Cooper found the affairs of 
the Book Concern when he undertook its management he 
has elsewhere set forth. His report to the General Con- 
ference of 1808 shows approximately how the establish- 
ment stood when Mr. Dickins died. The fact that so long 
an interval occurred between the event of his death and 
the succession of Cooper probably caused some shrinking 
in the assets of the institution. 

Mr. Cooper says : " When I engaged in this Concern, in 
the spring of 1799, the whole amount of clear capital stock, 
including debts and all manner of property, was not more 
than four thousand dollars." When Mr. Dickins began 
the business, a little more than nine years before his death, 
there were but forty-three thousand members and one hun- 
dred and ninety-six preachers in the Church. He launched 
the enterprise without any capital save that which was 
borrowed. He had to travel an unexplored way as he 
advanced. The business was created under serious dis- 
abilities and by slow and laborious processes. Without 
much experience in the work, Dickins probably took 
risks which proved pecuniarily unfortunate at the time, 
but which may have been the seed of profits which his 
successor reaped. That Dickins' s administration was bold 
as well as wise, is shown by the publication of a monthly 
magazine of very respectable size while the Church was 
feeble in both numbers and resources. That periodical 
was, no doubt, valuable to the ministry as well as to the 



Amekican Methodism. 



319 



membership, even though it may not have been a profit- 
able venture from a business point of view. Its value, 
as a repository of historical data ninety-five years after its< 
publication, the present volume attests. 

The four thousand dollars of clear capital which Mr. 
Cooper found when he succeeded to the agency was but a 
small part of the fruit of Dickins's enterprise. A Book Con- 
cern had been established and was in successful operation. 
The one hundred and fourteen thousand copies of books 
and pamphlets which had been put in circulation during 
the last four years alone of its founder's life had probably 
reached a half million or more of readers. Those publica- 
tions had furnished moral stimulus and religious inspira- 
tion to preachers and to people. They had explained the 
doctrines and methods of the new Church, and vindicated 
it against the criticisms and aspersions of its foes. They 
had been silent but potential aids to the ministry in their 
evangelical labors, and they had nourished the intellectual 
as well as the spiritual life of the denomination. The 
work achieved by John Dickins in giving a literature to 
American Methodism rendered him a benefactor of man- 
kind. Some of the books he published are still extant, and 
are now read, eighty-six years after his death.* 

When Ezekiel Cooper took charge of the Book Concern, 
in 1799, there were over sixty-one thousand members and 
two hundred and seventy-two preachers. The Church was 
just entering upon a period of very rapid growth. For 
the multitudes that were so soon to throng its altars, Dick- 
ins had prepared the means of instruction and edification 
by the printed page. The Book Concern, however, yet 
required much devotion, skill, and energy to foster it and 

* Four of Dickins's publications, in perfect preservation, are now in my pos- 
session, besides the Magazines. They are : 1. The Manners of the Ancient 
Christians, extracted from a French Author by John Wesley; 2. Letters 
Written by Jane Cooper; 3. A Defense of Methodism; 4. Nicodemus ; or, 
A Treatise on the Fall of Man, Written in German by Augustus Herman 
Franck: Translated by John Wesley, M.A. They all bear the date of 1795. 



320 



Centennial History of 



to make real its grand possibilities. Cooper proved the man 
for the exigence. 

When he began he says : " I had not a single dollar of 
cash in hand belonging to the Connection to carry on the 
work, or to procure materials, or to pay a single demand 
against the Concern, which at that time was near three 
thousand dollars in debt. Under these circumstances, and 
thus situated, I engaged in the business with reluctance, 
fear, and trembling. I maintained and established the 
credit of the Concern by my own personal responsibility 
for contracts made, and the credit I had in the confidence 
of those for whom I did business. Thus, with cautious 
steps and prudent forethought, I had to struggle and go on 
by night and day ; and had, in certain cases, to advance my 
own cash to meet some of the demands against the Con- 
cern. In the course of the first year I got the business 
tolerably well under way ; and, by intense application 
and great fatigue, got released from some embarrassments 
and perplexities, and the business appeared in a state of 
liberal prosperity. 

" At the General Conference of 1804 the Concern had 
so far prospered that I could show a capital of about twen- 
ty-seven thousand dollars, which was clearing for the Con- 
nection about twenty-three thousand dollars in five years 
from a capital of four thousand, which was, when I re- 
ceived it, in a precarious and scattered situation, and dur- 
ing which time of five years I had no help allowed me by 
the Connection further than a small consideration of three 
hundred dollars and my board per year. 

" In 1804 the General Conference appointed Brother 
John Wilson to assist in the business, since which time we 
have progressed upon the capital of about twenty-seven 
thousand dollars till this time, and now we show a capital 
of about forty-five thousand dollars. So that, since the 
time I first engaged in the business, in 1799, being nine 
years, the capital stock has increased about elevenfold, 



American Methodism. 



321 



which is more than a hundred per cent, per annum, or 
about eleven hundred per cent, in nine years, ur*m the 
original capital and stock of about four thousand dollars, 
besides the various appropriations to the Conference and 
other purposes, as our ledger and day-book will show." 

When, in 1808, Mr. Cooper retired from the Book Con- 
cern, the Church had reached a membership exceeding 
one hundred and fifty thousand, and the preachers num- 
bered five hundred and forty. This was an increase during 
his period of service of ninety thousand members and 
two hundred and sixty-eight preachers. The field for the 
business was, therefore, vastly greater in the nine years of 
his administration, than it was during the nine years of 
Dickins's stewardship. From Cooper's statements it appears 
that in nineteen years from the origination of the enter- 
prise by Dickins, notwithstanding nearly a year was lost 
after his death by the failure to secure an Agent, it grew 
from nothing to the possession of a capital of forty-five 
thousand dollars, which is evidence of a great work accom- 
plished in the dissemination of a quickening and whole- 
some Christian literature over the land. 

In 1804 the Book Concern was removed from Philadel- 
phia to New York. In the General Conference of that 
year, Baltimore and New York were competitors for the 
Concern, and the latter was chosen as the place of its future 
location by a majority of only two votes. It was estab- 
lished in one small room in Gold Street, New York, and 
Mr. Cooper, in addition to performing the duties of his 
agency, served the society in Brooklyn as pastor. In 1808 
the Kev. John Wilson, who was Mr. Cooper's assistant the 
previous quadrennium, was elected Agent, and his assistant 
was Daniel Hitt. That year the business was removed to 
a small house in Pearl Street, in which Mr. Wilson also had 
his residence. He died in 1810. Prom 1810 to 1812 the 
business of editing, publishing, selling, and packing was 

done in one room on the corner of Church and White 
14* 



322 



Centennial History of 



Streets, under the superintendency of Mr. JETitt. Thence 
the CoiTcern was removed to John Street, where it occupied 
two lower rooms. After some time, there was another re- 
moval to Chatham Square, where also two rooms were 
occupied. During the sojourn in Chatham Square, in 1821, 
the Agents, Nathan Bangs and Thomas Mason, opened a 
bindery in the basement of the Wesleyan Academy build- 
ings, 14 Crosby Street. This was thought to be* a bold 
venture by many, but it was successful. In 1824 a print- 
ing-office was opened, and the business was once more 
removed — this time to Fulton Street. In 1S25 the acad- 
emy buildings were purchased, and the business was 
chiefly conducted there until October, 1833, when it en- 
tered upon the occupancy of the new buildings, erected 
expressly for its use, on lots purchased in Mulberry 
Street. 

An editorial writer in the Christian Advocate and Jour- 
nal of October 11, 1S33, says of the Concern, that ''the 
wisdom indeed was divine which planned it ; the devotion 
of its friends, who have at all times rallied around it, is 
praiseworthy ; the integrity and ability with which it has 
been conducted by those who have had the direct manage- 
ment of its affairs can scarcely be appreciated, particularly 
when they have been at all times without personal pecu- 
niary profit, and sometimes with pecuniary sacrifice. The 
frequent and marked manifestations of the divine favor 
must inspire confidence in all. 

" The divine goodness has enabled it to find a perma- 
nent home in suitable buildings erected for its accommoda- 
tion. The main building has a front of 121 feet on 
Mulberry Street, an^l is 47 feet wide. Including the cellar, 
which is paved with stone, it is seven stories high. It is 
five stories above the basement, which is a proper story 
and fully occupied. In this basement are many fire-proof 
vaults for the preservation of stereotype plates. There is 
a back building, 4S by 52 feet, the floors of which corre- 



American Methodism. 



323 



spond with and open to the floors of the front one, except 
that it has no cellar. 

" The whole building is most substantial, the walls of 
stone and brick. The roof of the front building is tin, that 
of the back one is slate. Hundreds of industrious individ- 
uals find employment here. It would move any heart with 
a pleasant emotion to look into the stitching and folding 
room and see scores of neat, modest females busily at work. 
It is encouraging to the hopes of religion to see the thou- 
sands of volumes and innumerable pages scattered through 
all parts of the country, carrying the streams of the water of 
life. It creates a strong, chastened, and elevated gratitude 
to know that all of its pecuniary avails are distributed an- 
nually to comfort and cheer the hearts of the 4 worn out 
preachers, their wives, widows, and orphans.' " 

Such were the extended proportions to which the pub- 
lishing institution had grown in forty-four years, after 
Mr. Dickins laid its foundation stone. The manner in 
which he began the work is told by Freeborn Garrettson, 
who says Dickins "commenced our Book Concern by 
printing one small hymn book, and that he printed prin- 
cipally with his own funds. The Book Concern, which 
he managed with integrity and dignity, before his death 
acquired a considerable degree of magnitude." * 

The publishing as well as the educational enterprise of 
the Church was destined to be tried by fire. In a little 
over two years after the buildings above described were 
completed, they were consumed. So extensive was the 
conflagration in New York when they were destroyed — 
in the early part of 1836 — that the insurance companies 
were largely crushed, and consequently but little insurance 
was realized. The Church, however, came to the rescue, 
and the Concern rose with vigor from the flames. 

Mr. Dickins not only possessed a capacity for affairs, but 
also scholarship, of which he laid the foundation in his 

* Garrettson's Serai-Centennial Sermon. 



324 



Centennial History of 



youth. He was beyond doubt the finest scholar of the Church 
in his day. His mental acquisitions were such as to enti- 
tle him to rank with the learned men of America. Dr. 
Coke said that Dickins was " eminent for both piety and 
learning." " By application to study," says Mr. Cooper, 
" he made great progress in various learning. He was 
considerably versed in classical education, especially in 
the Latin and Greek languages. He made but little 
proficiency in the Hebrew, but sufficient to enable him to 
read the Hebrew Bible. He was an acknowledged lin- 
guist. His knowledge of his native tongue was great ; I 
believe therein he was capable of putting criticism at de- 
fiance. Those who knew his skill in all its parts of gram- 
mar and speech, will readily agree with me that he had a 
complete knowledge of the English language. 

"He had acquired a very considerable knowledge of 
moral and natural philosophy. The study of nature and 
morality was a pleasing employment to him. Various 
agreeable and instructive conversations have I had with 
him upon these subjects. His mathematical knowledge 
was extensive. He was allowed to have a complete under- 
standing of all the various branches of that science ; and 
he was particularly delighted with algebra. He was 
well acquainted with geography, history, and chronology ; 
also with logic, rhetoric, and poetry, and made himself 
somewmat acquainted with astronomy. In each of these 
branches of learning he had acquired so much knowledge 
that we may truly say he was a learned man. Had he 
possessed a disposition to obtain worldly fame, and had he 
brought forward his knowledge and talents to public view 
in a popular manner, he might have cut a distinguished 
figure among the men of this world, and his name have 
been spread and recorded among the literati. But his re- 
markable humility, and inclination to be little and un- 
known, together with a determination to use what 
knowledge he had to the glory of God and the religious 



American Methodism. 



325 



benefit of man, prevented him from being generally known 
in his literary character. In the use and exercise of all his 
gifts and talents he acted as a good and faithful servant in 
the cause of his Lord. 

u As to his knowledge of divinity, there were but few in 
any place who had more correct ideas of the Gospel sys- 
tem. His knowledge of theology was such, that he might 
well deserve to have been called a doctor of divinity. He 
w T as orthodox and evangelical. He was well acquainted 
with the various polemical questions, and capable of man- 
aging them in a masterly manner ; yet he carefully avoided 
the field of controversy relative to certain systems non- 
essential to the true interest of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
However, he was a true defender of the faith in the fun- 
damental doctrines of Christ." 

In natural endowments Mr. Dickins ranked with the 
remarkable men of his time. "It would appear," says 
Cooper, " that he was formed by Providence for a great 
man, capable of high improvement in the various affairs 
of life. His mental powers were clear and strong. He 
was endowed with an extraordinary understanding. But 
few men could reason closer or more conclusively on al- 
most any subject. His conclusions from given premises 
were equally just and accurate, and consequently his judg- 
ment was highly valued by those who knew him. He 
possessed a just sensibility, tine feelings, and accurate ideas 
of the true dignity of man." 

In the pulpit Dickins excelled. " There his expositions 
were clear and scriptural. When he opened a text, it was 
like opening a cabinet of jewels to your view ; he would 
show you a rich treasure in the Scripture. His method 
and manner were pleasing. Very few had a more agree- 
able and pleasing way of opening a subject to the satisfac- 
tion of his hearers. His arguments were strong and con- 
vincing; his improvements were remarkably instructive, 
and his applications equally searching. Although he was 



326 



Centennial History of 



instructive to the understanding, and pleasing in his 
method, his grand object was to examine the hearts of 
his hearers and to 6 search Jerusalem with candles.' In his 
application he would say, almost as pointedly as Nathan 
did to David, 4 Thou art the man.' He was a wise master- 
builder ; a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth." * The Eev. Freeborn Gar- 
rettson corroborates this analysis of Dickins's pulpit abil- 
ities by the statement that " he was a great and a useful 
preacher." f 

At the General Conference of 1796 William Colbert 
heard him exhort. He says: "Dr. Coke preached a de- 
lightful sermon from Philippians iv, 4, and John Dickins 
gave us a beautiful exhortation. After the service one of 
the preachers broke out into an ecstasy of joy, which af- 
fected many. It was a time of a gracious shower. For 
my own part I was tendered." Dr. Coke said of Dickins : 
" As a preacher, he is remarkable for the solidity of his 
sermons and for the great variety of his matter." 

He was a faithful minister. " The souls of men," says 
Cooper, "he constantly sought. When among the care- 
less about religion, he sought to convince and stir them 
up to seek the Lord. When with mourners he was rich 
in communicating comfort, by pressing the promises and 
pointing to Christ. When with the tempted and tried, 
he administered suitable relief and consolation. When 
with believers who were panting for more religion or 
purer hearts, he would take them by the hand and help 
them forward in their spiritual progress. He would take 
all in every situation whom he could prevail with and lead 
them to Christ, and build them up in faith and holiness." 

Thus it is apparent that Mr. Dickins was a devoted 
Christian. Like Asbury and other of the early Methodist 
preachers, he was a man of prayer. "He always rose early, 

* The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper's Sermon on Dickins. 
f Garrettson's Semi-Centennial Sermon. 



American Methodism. 



327 



when health permitted, and spent an hour or two in 
prayer, reading the Bible, and in meditation before he 
engaged in any business with men or worldly concerns ; 
and through the day he frequently and regularly retired 
to his closet for prayer. I never knew him to come home 
to his regular meals, but that he retired to seek refreshment 
for his soul in secret devotion. 

" Who among us is left to excel — may I not say, who to 
equal — him as a man of piety % His Christian experience 
was clear. He, in his early convictions, drank the worm- 
wood and the gall. He fled to the atonement for accept- 
ance, and there he found pardon for his sins. He wit- 
nessed by his life that he was a child of God. He was 
possessed, in an eminent degree, of the graces of the Holy 
Spirit. The principal object with him was holiness. He 
considered holiness vastly more necessary than happiness. 
From his conversion until his deatli this was the mark 
toward which he pressed, and which he attained. His 
humility, patience, meekness, brotherly-kindness, faith, 
and charity were remarkable. In whatever company he 
was found, instruction and profitable conversation flowed 
from his lips. His words were seasoned with grace. 
Though he might be religiously cheerful, yet a Christian 
gravity and seriousness always attended him. His de- 
light was to honor his Lord by improving every time 
and opportunity of doing good. The more you knew 
him, the more you were convinced that he was a faith- 
ful servant of God. There are too many who from slight 
acquaintance you take to be pious characters, but upon 
a more intimate acquaintance you find them to be of 
a contrary disposition — base metal — mere counterfeits 
in religion. Not so with our departed brother. He was 
as pure gold that would bear the touch-stone. He would 
bear the most critical and thorough investigation through- 
out his life. To know him was enough. 

" My own personal acquaintance with him has been con- 



328 



Centennial History of 



siderably long and intimate. I have been with him in 
various circles, public and private. I have had many op- 
portunities of reviewing his deportment in the world, in 
his family, in the Church, in temporal and spiritual con- 
cerns, and of discovering his moral rectitude as it re- 
lated to the principles of his heart, in the designs of his 
mind, in life and conduct ; and I can conscientiously say I 
believe him to have been one of the best of men. 

" Often have I found him to be a remarkably profitable 
associate in the fraternal bonds of the Gospel and in the 
unity of the spirit of peace. Some of my most happy 
hours have been spent in his company, and I can say it 
was good for me to be with him. His human, literary, or 
scientific knowledge, of which he possessed a great deal, I 
never could perceive puffed him up in the least. He pos- 
sessed it as though he possessed it not. But upon all suit- 
able occasions he would discover and exercise himself as a 
man of profound wisdom and knowledge. With emotions 
of pleasure and sorrow I retrospect, and think upon the 
various improving and satisfactory times I have had with 
him, and am ready to ask, Where shall I find another 
equally profitable both in scientific and religious improve- 
ment? Were it necessary, how many testimonies could 
be produced in confirmation of the worth and excellence 
of the late great and good, the wise and useful Dickins." * 

Mr. Dickins was an influential ecclesiastical leader. 
"He was," says Mr. Cooper, "zealous to maintain good 
order and regular government ; and he was opposed to 
every thing that had a tendency to open a door to any 
innovation upon the doctrines, the order, or the disci- 
pline of the Church. He may be considered as one who 
was set for the defense of the Gospel. He always studied 
the true interests of the Church. We have often experi- 
enced the benefit of his attention to these objects, not only 
in his connection with the individual societies or churches 

* The Rev. Ezekiel Cooper on Dickins. 



American Methodism. 



329 



where he has been placed, but also in Conference, among 
the ministers, upon the weighty concerns of the general 
Connection. There his judgment was generally consulted 
and highly valued. We have long experienced the benefit 
of his services in various Conferences, and consequently 
his loss is and will be sensibly felt by the Connection at 
large." 

Dickins was a hero. Philadelphia was scourged by three 
epidemics of yellow fever. Instead of fleeing from danger 
he remained, as a faithful pastor, at his post. Mr. Cooper 
says : " He sought to be a friend to all and to administer 
comfort and benefit to man, especially in times of affliction 
and distress. This has been frequently manifested, but 
especially during the prevailing fevers of 1793, 1797, and 
1798. How did he then search out the haunts of distress 
and affliction ? Never avoiding any scene of danger where 
duty called to administer to the necessities of the afflicted 
and wretched till the dire disease cut him down and stopped 
his progress. His liberal hand was always open to supply 
the wants of the poor, so far as his ability extended. But 
few had any idea of the extent of his charities." 

A short time before he was prostrated by the fever, Mr. 
Dickins, in a letter to Bishop Asbury, said : " I sit down to 
write as in the jaws of death. Whether Providence may 
permit me to see your face again in time I know not. 
But if not, I hope, through abundant mercy, we shall meet 
in the presence of God. I am an unprofitable servant ; but I 
think my heart condemns me not, and, therefore, I have 
confidence toward God. So I commit myself and family 
into the hands of God for life or death." 

The closing scene of this eminent minister is well de- 
scribed by Mr. Cooper, who says : " When he was first taken 
sick he sent for his wife, and told her lie was very ill and 
begged her to be resigned ; and to tell the children that it was 
his particular request that they also should be resigned ; for, 
said he, ' I am perfectly resigned, and can rejoice in the will 



330 



Centennial Histoey of 



of God ;' and with tears running down his cheeks, and hands 
clasped in ecstasy, he cried out, 4 1 have not been so happy 
for seven years.' A friend told me that a little time 
before his death he heard him in prayer, when alone, utter 
these words : ' O Lord, thou knowest me. Thou knowest 
it has been my desire to do thy will in all things ! ' This 
was his language to his heavenly Father while alone, but 
he was heard by the friend who told me, who was in an 
adjoining apartment. His remarkable resignation to Prov- 
idence was further evidenced. When himself and his eldest 
daughter were both extremely ill, and another of the 
children taken in the same dangerous situation, he again 
recommended the partner of his bosom to be resigned to 
the divine will. ' The Lord,' said he, £ will do all things 
well.' When the news was brought to him of the death 
of his eldest daughter, a fair and hopeful flower in the 
family who had just arrived to woman's age, he said, £ Is 
she gone ? " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; 
blessed be the name of the Lord." ' 

" Being asked by a friend a little before his exit, ' My 
dear brother, don't you see the towers of the ]STew Je- 
rusalem appear?' he requested him to repeat the words 
again, which was done. He then answered : 6 Yes, I do.' 
The same friend asked him if they should pray. He an- 
swered by a request that they should praise. When his 
speech was nearly gone he was observed, by the friend 
who attended him, to be in fervent praise and prayer ; and 
although but few of his words could be articulated, he was 
heard distinctly to say, 6 Glory, glory ! Come, Lord Jesus,' 
These were his last words that could be understood." * 

* The Rev. Jesse Lee made the following record, October 3, 1*798, in his 
Journal : " We heard of the death of Brother John Dickins and his daugh- 
ter. They both died the week before. I have not felt so much distressed 
at hearing of the death of any person for a long time. In the death of 
Brother Dickins we have lost one of the best of Christians, a good preacher, 
a worthy and much respected man, and an uncommonly faithful superin- 
tendent of the Book Concern. He died of the yellow fever in Philadelphia, 



American Methodism. 



331 



The first subscription for a Methodist school, after the 
pattern of Kingswood, in England, was drawn by Dickins 
in 1780. Asbury says : " Brother Dickins drew the sub- 
scription for a Kingswood school. This was what came 
out a college in the subscription printed by Dr. Coke." 
June 19, 1780, Asbury says: "I hope John Dickins will 
ever after this be a friend to me and Methodism." His 
desire was realized, for in June, 1799, the Bishop wrote 
to his mother : " My dear friend in America, John Dickins, 
died with the fever, but I am spared a little longer." 

Asbury and Dickins were closely united. Mr. Cooper 
says : " Those two men were like unto Jonathan and 
David of old. They were one in heart, mind, and mutual 
affection." 

We have seen that, according to Mr. Ware's recollection, 
Mr. Dickins proposed, in the Christmas Conference, the 
name that was given to the new ecclesiastical organization. 
The name which he in that body first pronounced — " the 
Methodist Episcopal Church " — has since been on millions 
of tongues, and will probably continue to be pronounced 
by myriads throughout the world, until the militant Church 
shall be united with the Church triumphant. As a friend 
of Asbury, and the first itinerant to welcome Dr. Coke 
to this country, and, like them, an Englishman, he would 
inevitably have prominence in shaping the affairs of the 
young Church, especially as his capacity for leadership was 
large, and his standing in the Connection, perhaps, second to 
no other. He seems to have been to Asbury, in the form- 
ative days of the Church, somewhat as Hamilton was to 
Washington in the infancy of the Republic. How skill- 
fully and successfully he maintained, in the General Con- 
ference of 1792, the Bishop's prerogative to station the 
preachers, we shall see hereafter. Probably the most im- 

which is stated to be much worse at this time than at any former period. 
The accounts published in the newspapers state that from sixty to eighty 
die of u day, and one day upward of one hundred died." 



332 



Centennial History of 



portant work performed by Dickins was the founding of 
the Methodist Book Concern. He was the father and 
pioneer of the editing and publishing work of American 
Methodism ; and Asbury's sagacity is seen in his selection 
of Dickins for the great task of laying the foundation of 
a denominational literature. 

The portraiture which Ezekiel Cooper has given of 
Dickins seems almost colored by devoted friendship, yet 
Cooper declares that " it would be difficult to pass too 
high an encomium upon him." The great excellence of 
the man could be justly set forth only in words of eulogy. 
"Bishop Asbury," says Mr. Cooper, "who was probably 
longer and better acquainted with him than any other man, 
styles him his faithful brother, and in a note upon his 
death says : 6 Such was his probity and piety that according 
to his time and opportunity he was one of the greatest char- 
acters that ever graced the pulpit, or adorned the society 
of ministers or Methodists. On his tomb might be en- 
grayed, or over his sleeping ashes might with truth be 
pronounced, Here lieth he who in the cause of God never 
feared nor flattered man.' " 



Amekican Methodism. 



333 



CHAPTER XIY. 

THE NEW CHURCH IN NEW ENGLAND. 

METHODISM did not formally invade the land of the 
Puritans until the year 1789. Before that time cas- 
ual incursions had been made there by Methodist preach- 
ers, but no societies had been formed. The first Wesleyan 
itinerant who, so far as any record shows, preached in New 
England, was William Black. He visited this country 
in the fall of 1784 for the purpose of obtaining laborers 
for Nova Scotia, and, as we have seen, attended the Christ- 
mas Conference. From Boston, where he preached twice, 
he proceeded to New York by the way of Rhode Island. 
From New York he w r ent to Long Island, and accom- 
panied Philip Cox to some of his appointments. Thence 
he crossed the Sound into Connecticut. Of his visit there 
Black says : " I preached in the evening at North Walk, 
and the next morning rode on to Stratfield. I preached 
six or seven times among the people here, and then re- 
turned to New York." * 

The seeds of Methodism were thus planted by a stran- 
ger's hand in New England on the eve of the ecclesiastical 
organization of the denomination ; for Black says : " Dur- 
ing my absence from New York Dr. Coke had arrived 
there, and two other preachers from England, and were 
gone on toward Baltimore. Therefore on November 17th 
I set off for Philadelphia, and thence forward on my way 
to meet them." f 

The seed Mr. Black sowed in Connecticut was not alto- 
gether fruitless. Years afterward, when Jesse Lee visited 

* Black's Journal, "Arminian Magazine." London, 1791, p. 411. 
f Ibid. 



334 



Centennial History of 



a certain neighborhood in that State, he found that Black 
had prepared the way for him ; for he says in his Journal : 
" Mr. Black, one of our preachers, had been there a few 
years before, and some of the people had been wishing for 
the Methodists ever since. They spread the news as much 
as they could, and at seven o'clock the people met and I 
preached to an attentive congregation. After meeting 
some of the people stayed to talk to me about religion, 
and wished to be instructed in the name of the Lord. I 
think five or six of them are truly awakened ; one, I 
think, has experienced a change of heart." 

A month after the Christinas Conference adjourned, Mr. 
Black returned to Boston, where he spent some time. He 
says : " February 1.* I went to Boston and tarried there 
mostly until May, and then sailed for Cumberland. "When 
I first arrived here I preached in private houses, none of 
the ministers being willing to lend me their pulpits. First 
I preached in a chamber at the north end of the town ; 
but the people crowded in so that the floor sank an inch 
or two. I then preached in a large room at the north end 
of the town, where, in time of prayer, one of the beams of 
the floor broke, and the people screamed as if going to be 
swallowed up by an earthquake. After this I preached in 
Mr. Skillman's meeting-house two or three times ; but this 
was like to cause a quarrel between him and the commit- 
tee who had offered the use of the house, so I declined 
preaching there any more. We then procured from the 
select men the use of the North Latin school-house ; but 
neither would this contain half the people, and one of the 
beams here, also, giving way, the people were terribly 
afraid, and screamed as if about to be crushed to death. 
I preached most of the time in the Sandiman's meeting- 
house, as most of that society are now scattered, but it 
would not contain half the people. The last Sabbath I 
preached in Dr. Elliot's meeting-house to, I suppose, up- 

* This was in 1785. 



American Methodism. 



335 



ward of two thousand people. This was the only meeting- 
house that would hold the people ; nor would this house 
hold them if they had timely notice. I trust my labor 
here was not in vain. The word reached the hearts of 
many, who soon after found peace with God." * 

It seems very unfortunate that a Methodist society 
was not immediately organized in Boston, and a suitable 
preacher placed over it as pastor. Such interest and 
impression as Black's preaching produced indicated that 
the metropolis of New England was a promising field for 
the newly-organized Church to cultivate. But no advan- 
tage was at that time taken of the inviting conditions. 
Black says of the converts of his ministry : " As there was 
no Methodist preacher there when I left them, they joined 
Mr. Skillman's church, who is a lively, useful Baptist 
preacher." 

Thus the labors of this Methodist preacher in Boston 
contributed, as the preaching of Methodists has often 
done, to the increase of another branch of the Church of 
Christ. Stevens, in his "Memorials of the Introduction 
of Methodism in New England," alludes to Black's minis- 
try in Boston: "The fear of the contempt associated with 
the new name of Methodist," says Stevens, " led the con- 
verts under Mr. Black's short ministry to take shelter in 
other denominations, so that, on the arrival of later Meth- 
odist laborers, no distinct vestiges of these first efforts 
were found." The early records show the effect of 
Black's preaching. "Many who now are at rest in the 
arms of that Christ whom he preached, and many who 
are at this day bright and exemplary lights in the Bap- 
tist Churches of the city, have dated their convictions 
of sin from his sermons." f Mr. Lee did not enter Boston 

* "Arminian Magazine," London, 1791, p. 412. 

f "History of the Gathering of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
Boston," preserved in the Church Records of 1800. Quoted in Stevens's 
" Memorials." 



336 



Centennial History of 



until more than five years after Mr. Black's departure, 
namely, July 9, 1790. 

Jesse Lee has been called the Apostle of New England. 
At the Conference in New York in 1789 he was appointed 
to Stamford Circuit, in Connecticut. He entered the State 
on June 11, and preached his first sermon at Norwalk. 

The state of religion in New England at the time Lee 
founded the new Church there is indicated by the Eev. 
Timothy Merritt, who says : " The clergy in New England 
generally at the time the Methodists came into this part of 
the country were, in spirit and in labors, rather a secular 
than an evangelical body of men. Pure and undefiled 
religion was in a very low state ; and scarcely any means 
were used for its revival except the mere routine of Sab- 
bath-day preaching. '.Revivals were very seldom ; prayer- 
meetings were hardly known, and evening meetings were 
highly censured. The spirit of religious enterprise was 
not then waked up ; the missionary spirit was not then 
roused ; and the sacred office was used rather as the means 
of a livelihood than as a spiritual calling of the deepest 
interest. Men 6 qualified themselves for the ministry of 
the word,' set their price, and waited for a 4 call.' Some 
said they £ would not undervalue their classmates by preach- 
ing for less than the common price.' There were minis- 
ters in those days who had been settled and dismissed and 
who were out of employ. There were also parishes with- 
out settled ministers, and these generally raised money to 
pay for preaching a part of the year. When any of these 
ministers were employed, it was to preach the money out ; 
and then they returned to their secular employments, like 
other men, and waited for another call." * 

The spiritual tone of the ministry, as a class, and the 
methods of religious labor that prevailed among them, 
called for such an infusion of revival power into New 
England " orthodoxy " as Methodism was able to give. In 
* Merritt's " Review of a Pamphlet entitled Letters on Methodism." 1831. 



American Methodism. 



337 



entering that region, therefore, Lee bore the refreshing 
waters of life to multitudes who were famishing. 

Lee's methods were bold and effective. The Rev. Peter 
Yannest, who was an early laborer in that region, says : 
"New England was remarkable for its small towns. Mr. 
Lee, in going through these towns, would ride up to a door 
and knock with his whip, and inquire of the persons pre- 
senting themselves, in his soft and pleasant way, 6 Do you 
know me ? I am a Methodist preacher. Will you let me 
preach in your house \ 9 The reply would perhaps be 
6 No ! ' ' Farewell,' he would say, and so proceed through 
the village without any encouragement. He would then put 
his horse at the tavern, and go to the school -house and ask 
for liberty to preach there. If denied the use of the 
school-house, he would select some spot in the open air, go 
to the school, and request the children to inform their par- 
ents and neighbors that a Methodist preacher would preach 
at such time and place as he would name. 

" After preaching in those places, and before dismissing 
the congregation, he would remark that if any one would 
open his door he would preach again in two weeks ; and 
most generally he would receive an invitation, and thus 
procure at once a place to preach and a place to lodge. In 
this way he would form a two- weeks' circuit, send for a 
preacher to take charge of it, and so pass on to form an- 
other. 

" He met with very considerable opposition from both 
preachers and people of that day ; but the Lord had pre- 
pared him for the work. Being a large man, none dared 
to molest his person ; and his piety was such that none 
could irritate him. His sweet temper had a great influ- 
ence upon the people wherever he went ; so much so, that 
they would not believe their own preachers when they 
took occasion to preach against him." * 

Lee's method of forming circuits as he traveled, is 
*" Christian Advocate and Journal," March 21, 1850. 

15 



338 



Centennial History of 



shown by a passage in his Journal in February, 1790. He 
says : " I have now formed New Haven Circuit for one 
preacher. The distance which the preacher has to travel 
in going around once in two weeks is one hundred and 
twenty miles. For this circuit we have to preach in three 
cities, five towns pretty thickly settled, and several coun- 
try places. I have now gone around it, and made my own 
appointments, and have preached seventeen times within 
the last fourteen days." 

When he had been but little over eight months in New 
England, Lee received re-enforcements. Three preachers, 
among the most talented in the Connection, went to his 
help in February, 1790. He says : " We had our quarter- 
ly meeting at Dan Town. Just before the time of meet- 
ing, a friend informed me that there were three preachers 
coming from a distance to labor with me in New England. 
I w T as greatly pleased at the report, and my heart seemed 
to reply, ' Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the 
Lord.' When I saw them riding up I stood and looked at 
them, and could say from my heart, ' Thou hast well done 
that thou art come.' Brother Jacob Brush, an elder, George 
Roberts and Daniel Smith, two young preachers, came 
from Maryland State to assist me in this part of the world. 
No one knows but God and myself what comfort and joy 
I felt at their arrival. Surely the Lord has had respect 
unto my prayers, and granted my request." 

Under the ministry of these devoted and eloquent 
itinerants the young Church took root rapidly in the 
land of the Pilgrims. Additions continued to be made 
to the ministerial force from time to time, and the 
work increased, so that in five years after Lee entered New 
England there were two presiding elders' districts in its 
territory, manned by nearly thirty preachers, with a mem- 
bership of about one thousand eight hundred. 

Asbury was deeply devoted to the cause and the preach- 
ers in the Eastern States, of which the Rev. Henry 



Ameeican Methodism. 



339 



Smith gives impressive proof: "I have not forgotten," 
says Mr. Smith, " the affecting illustrations our venerable 
Asbury used to give us in the Baltimore Conference of the 
New England preachers — their self-denying, cross-bearing, 
laborious, and enterprising spirit. But when he spoke of 
their zeal, their privations and hardships, and, above all, 
their ' deep poverty,' and the stern opposition they met with 
from almost every class of people, we were melted into 
tears. Once, however, the good old Bishop had liked to 
have given offense to some when he told us of a good 
brother, and I think gave his name, who dined with his 
family on a blackberry pie and nothing else. Some seemed 
to think that the Bishop presented him as a model for mar. 
ried preachers. O how earnestly the Bishop begged for 
our surplus funds for New England, and how cheerfully 
they were voted." * 

Jesse Lee gave eight years to the work in New England. 
He was one of the most distinguished and influential of 
the early American itinerants. He was born in Prince 
George County, Virginia, in 1758, aud was converted in 
his boyhood. He began his career as a traveling preacher 
in 1782. His endowments specially fitted him for his 
work. " The moral features of that distinguished man 
were strongly marked. He possessed a sanguine tempera- 
ment, and was in a high degree good-natured." " By 
constitution and disposition he seemed formed for a pio- 
neer. No length of journey nor frequency of preaching 
could deprive him of sleep or of appetite. He suffered 
little from lowness of spirits or discouragements, and the 
feelings of a stranger seemed to be unknown to him. 
Wherever night overtook him he made himself welcome. 
' My name,' he would say, '• is Jesse Lee. I am a Method- 
ist preacher. I will stay all night with you and preach 
for you if you will let me.' 

" I have heard a young preacher relate an anecdote very 

* "Christian Advocate aud Journal,'* September 7, 1842. 



340 



Centennial History of 



characteristic of the proof of his feelings against repul- 
sion. They had at the fall of night obtained access to a 
strange house, through the courtesy of the lady, and just 
as they were seated at the supper the gentleman came 
home, to whom she politely introduced them as Methodist 
preachers ; but his mind was occupied by sentiments little 
friendly to those of hospitality or good-breeding. He 
gave vent to his inveterate prejudices in a strain of abuse 
and invective so rude as to deprive the young man of all 
inclination for supper. Mr. Lee, with the utmost com- 
posure, made a hearty meal of it, now and then introduc- 
ing a pleasant remark, and before bed-time so conciliated 
his feelings that he joined in evening prayer. 

" Mr. Lee was famous as a gleaner of anecdotes. It was 
to him that we were indebted for the story of Joe Wheaton. 
It bears that a preacher of this name, in company with 
a colored colleague, who was to follow him in the order of 
the meeting, in the excess of his voluntary humility, again 
and again called himself Joe Wheaton, the meanest of all 
God's creatures. The colored brother, in his turn, with 
equal modesty and propriety, solicited the attention of the 
congregation to the testimony of the weakest of all God's 
creatures, except Joe Wheaton. 

" As a speaker, neither you nor I will, perhaps, ever 
meet with his like ; his occasional and peculiar greatness 
had no parallel, and filled the hearer with wonder. There 
was in his voice a sonorous and tremulous tone which in 
its animated strains became monotonous ; but when the 
Spirit came upon him, and the feelings began to work, 
without any arrangement he would pour forth unpre- 
meditated monosyllables in short sentences, and raise a 
commotion of feelings in a congregation which bafrled all 
description. I have seen a Conference weeping around 
him like children while he was relating the progress of the 
work of God under his presidency." * 

* Nicholas Snetlieu in " Wesley an Repository. 



American Methodism. 



341 



Mr. Lee rejoiced in the success of his fellow-laborers, 
and, indeed, of any who won souls. " How often," says 
Mr. Snethen, " have we seen his eyes sparkle with more 
than mortal fires, and his cheeks glow with a deeper flush, 
when he has been speaking of the usefulness of a preacher, 
be his name or sect what it might ! " 

" Mr. Lee possessed," says Ware, " uncommon colloquial 
powers and a fascinating address. His readiness at repar- 
tee was scarcely equaled ; and by the skillful use of this 
talent he often taught those disposed to be witty at his ex- 
pense that the safest way to deal with him was to be civil. 
He was fired with missionary zeal. The truth which had 
made him free he wished to proclaim to others, and espe- 
cially to the inquisitive and enterprising descendants of 
the Pilgrims. He did not doubt that it would make its 
way into that land and open a wide field for action and 
usefulness. He was, moreover, a man of great moral 
courage, and more than ordinary preaching talents. He 
preached with more ease than any other man I ever knew, 
and was, I think, the best every-day preacher in the Con- 
nection." 

The Rev. Henry Boehm gave the author of this volume 
a brief description of Mr. Lee. He said Lee " had a very 
good, distinct utterance. His manner was energetic, but 
not boisterous. In his preaching he would generally say 
things that would produce excitement in the direction of 
mirthfulness, and that would seem to pave the way for 
something solemn. He was pointed, and pressed the truth 
home to the conscience. He could move the tender emo- 
tions, and produce weeping as well as smiles in his audi- 
ence." Mr. Lee " was fleshy and of the largest size, his 
face full and florid, its features rather small, and his eyes 
blue." 

At the General Conference of 1800 he was nearly elected 
a Bishop. It is said that he confidently expected that such 
ecclesiastical promotion would be given him, and that he 



342 



Centennial History of 



did not conceal his disappointment at his defeat. William 
Colbert was present at the election, and in his Journal re- 
cords the following : " Monday, 12. This morning was 
elected that venerable old man, Richard Whatcoat, to the 
office of Bishop in the Methodist Episcopal Church. There 
were one hundred and fifteen votes, out of which he had 
fifty-nine, Jesse Lee fifty-six." At the first ballot there 
was a tie. The Journal of the General Conference agrees 
with Colbert as to the number of votes cast, and also as to 
the number received by Whatcoat. It states, however, 
as we shall see, that Jesse Lee received fifty-five votes, 
and that there was one blank. If, on the first ballot, 
one more vote had been cast for Lee, he would have 
lived in history as the first native Bishop of American 
Methodism. 

We have seen, on a former page, that Dr. Phoebus has 
conveyed the idea that Mr. Lee's defeat was the result of 
his low-church opinions respecting the Episcopate. Mr. 
Snethen, however, who was a member and the Secretary 
of the General Conference of 1800, holds forth a differ- 
ent view. Snethen says : " He did not fail of his election 
from any disagreement between him and the preachers on 
the score of principle, but from indications which led 
many to believe that he would be wanting in fellow- 
feeling." 

Mr. Lee occupied a commanding position before the 
public, as is shown by the fact that he filled the position of 
chaplain to Congress. He continued in the ministry to 
the end of his useful life. The Methodist centenarian, 
Father Boehm, said : " I was with him when he died. His 
death occurred at the house of Mr. Sellers, in Caroline 
County, Maryland. He was a very heavy man, and there 
was an abrasion of the skin of one of his legs, and it be- 
came inflamed. Several physicians attended him, but they 
were unable to arrest the inflammation. Mortification and 
death ensued. His mind was clear to the last." Re- 



American Methodism. 



343 



specting his death, Mr. Boehm says : " Through the first 
part of his illness his mind was much weighed down so 
that he spoke but little." Afterward, " He broke out in 
ecstasies of joy. He delivered himself in words like 
these : ' Glory ! glory ! glory ! Halleluiah ! Jesus reigns ! ' 
He directed me to write to his brother Ned, and let him 
know he died happy in the Lord." The venerable Peter 
Vannest said of Mr. Lee : " He left among us few better 
or greater men." 



344 Centennial History of 



CHAPTER XV. 

THOMAS COKE. 

11HOMAS COKE was bora in South Wales, September 
. 9, 1747. In his seventeenth year he entered Jesus 
College, in the University of Oxford. There he formed 
skeptical opinions. His university career was marked by 
gayety, if not dissipation. The interposition of a clergy- 
man of Wales whom he visited, and the reading of Sher- 
lock, rescued him from infidelity. Having taken open 
ground in favor of Christianity, he severed his infidel 
associations, and decided to become a clergyman. He was, 
however, without a vital religious experience. 

Coke obtained a curacy at South Petherton, in Somer- 
setshire, England. He sought to be useful, and his minis- 
terial services were attractive. The numbers who assembled 
to hear him exceeded the capacity of the church. Failing 
to induce the vestry of the parish to increase the accommo- 
dations by erecting a gallery in the church, he did it 
himself. 

About this time he found a profitable spiritual counselor 
in Mr. Maxfield, who was an early helper of Mr. Wesley, 
and who took orders in the Church of England. He soon 
began to see the way of salvation by faith. About this 
time, also, Alleine's "Alarm to the Unconverted" attracted 
his attention. " Sherlock's discourses had produced a revo- 
lution in his opinions ; but Alleine's Alarm now produced a 
revolution in his heart." He earnestly sought salvation. 

While he was seeking and preaching Christ, Coke visited 
a family to which belonged a poor laborer who was 
a Methodist class-leader. In conversation with him he 
received further light. He declared that he owed more 




i 



American Methodism. 



345 



to this simple Christian than to any other. At length, 
while he was engaged in the proclamation of the Gospel to 
others, he received the peace of God. 

From the pulpit he declared to the people what the 
Lord had done for his soul. While preaching he soared 
into freedom from his manuscript, and soon cast it aside. 
He spoke from the abundance of his heart, and felt little 
need of written sermons. Under his first extemporaneous 
discourse three souls were awakened. 

His fervor and zeal soon aroused antagonism. His gen- 
teel auditors were displeased, and the neighboring clergy 
did not approve his course. A charge was presented against 
him to the bishop, who, however, declined to suspend him. 
Coke's enemies applied to the rector of the parish, who 
promised his dismission. The parish bells chimed him out. 

Coke, some time afterward, met Mr. Wesley. In 
August, 1777, Wesley wrote : " I went forward to Taunton 
with Dr. Coke, who, being dismissed from his curacy, has 
bidden adieu to his honorable name, and is determined to 
cast in his lot with us." In the following year he was ap- 
pointed to London. There his ministry was very popular 
and useful. Frequently the houses could not contain the 
people who thronged to hear him. He resorted to field- 
preaching in the metropolis, and his word was attended 
with power from on high. 

Mr. Wesley employed him, also, in visiting the societies 
in Ireland alternately with himself, and on the second 
day of September, 1784, he set him apart as a Superin- 
tendent of the Methodist societies in the United States. 
On the eighth day of September he sailed for New York, 
where he landed on the third of November. On the 
second of June, 1785, he took ship for his return voyage to 
England. 

Dr. Coke never remained longer than a few months at 

a time in the United States. He retained his connection 

with the Wesleyan Conference in England while he lived. 
15* 



346 



Centennial Histohy of 



How lie was regarded by the American Methodists is 
shown by one of his American contemporaries, who says : 
" Dr. Coke cannot be considered even as a bird of passage, 
for he never stayed long enough among us to hatch a brood ; 
but we can say that we wished it, and sought by private 
entreaties and other means to effect it." The Eev. Minton 
Thrift, a biographer of the Rev. Jesse Lee, says : " Dr. 
Coke could not be prevailed upon to confine himself to 
America, but, from the multiplicity of plans which engaged 
his attention, he was obliged to spend the greater part of 
his time in Great Britain or the West Indies. Bishop 
Asbury was therefore left with the whole burden of the 
Superintendency." Asbury desired an assistant at the 
General Conference of 1796, "but upon Dr. Coke giving 
assurance to the Conference that he would give his serv- 
ices entirely to the Methodists in America, Mr. Asbury 
did not insist upon the appointment of another at that 
time. Dr. Coke soon discovered that he had promised more 
than he was able to perform ; for we do not learn that he 
was present at more than one or two Conferences from 
the year 1796 to 1800." * Previous to his visit in 1796 
Dr. Coke had made five visits to the United States, namely, 
in 1784, 1787, 1789, 1791, and 1792. He was never here 
after 1804. Providence, he thought, kept him elsewhere. 

Dr. Coke's ability in the pulpit, his zeal and abounding 
labors, together with his scholarly polish and attainments, 
rendered him a valuable acquisition to the young Church, 
as he also was to the Wesley an Connection in England. 
His services were heartily given to both. 

It is doubtful whether his labors in the pulpit were as 
effective in America as they were in England. It is said 
that his sermon in Baltimore on the occasion of the ordina- 
tion of Bishop Asbury at the Christmas Conference pro- 
duced a profound impression. There are very few tradi- 
tions of his having exercised extraordinary pulpit power 

* Thrift's Memoir of Lee, p. 266. 



Amebic an Methodism. 



347 



during his visits to the United States. The author of this 
volume wrote from the lips of the venerated Henry Boehm, 
when he was ninety-nine years old, a brief reminiscence of 
Coke. Mr. Boehm met him at the General Conference 
of 1800. He said : " I was privileged to dine with the 
Bishops during the Conference, and thus met Dr. Coke 
once in social life. I heard him preach at the ordination of 
Whatcoat. Coke had a feminine voice, but could be heard 
distinctly by a large audience. He was a ready speaker, 
but I have no recollection of any special effect being pro- 
duced by his preaching. I only heard him once." 

The Eev. William Colbert alludes to Coke's preaching 
in very favorable but brief terms. At the first General 
Conference of the Church, in 1792, at Baltimore, he says: 
" Dr. Coke preached a delightful sermon on Komans 
viii, 16." He applies the same adjective to a sermon Coke 
preached during the General Conference of 1796. In De- 
cember, 1797, Dr. Coke preached in St. George's, Phila- 
delphia, " and," says Colbert, " 1 heard him with delight." 
His text on that occasion was 1 John v, 12. At the Gen- 
eral Conference at Baltimore, May, 1804:, Mr. Colbert 
wrote in his Journal : " Sunday, 13. I heard Dr. Coke 
preach an excellent sermon this morning, in Light Street, 
from 2 Cor. iii, 18." 

The late Dr. John W. Francis, of the city of New 
York, once heard Dr. Coke, and received a strong and abid- 
ing impression. He says: "His indomitable zeal and de- 
votion were manifest to all. Glowing with devotional fer- 
vor, his shrill voice penetrated the remotest part of the 
assembly. He discoursed on God's providence, and ter- 
minated the exercises with reading the beautiful hymn of 
Addison, < The Lord my pasture shall prepare.' So dis- 
tinctly enunciatory was his manner that he almost electri- 
fied the audience. He dealt in the pathetic, and adepts in 
preaching might profit by Coke." * The Kev. William 

* Sprague's Annals. 



348 



Centennial History of 



Thaclier says : "As a preacher, I would not claim for him 
the highest distinction, vet he was undoubtedly among the 
more attractive and useful preachers of his day. Some of 
his discourses rose to a high order of eloquence." * 

Dr. Coke was of low stature, but corpulent. Says the 
Be v. William Thaclier : " He had a fine complexion, dark 
hair, and a dark, piercing eye, while his countenance, in 
conversation, was ordinarily clothed with a serene and be- 
nignant smile. His voice was melody itself, and his whole 
manner bland and attractive — indeed, he was one of the 
finest models of a Christian gentleman I remember to 
have met." 

Dr. Coke had an impulsive temperament, which some- 
times betrayed him into inconsiderate acts. The Rev. 
Xicholas Snethen describes him as a man whose " sensibil- 
ities were constitutionally too quick and powerful for his 
prudence." Different occasions furnished illustrations of 
this statement. One of these was when he wrote, April 24, 
1791, to Bishop White, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
a letter in which he made a proposal looking to the union 
of the American Methodists with that Church. This let- 
ter was written without the knowledge of Asbury, or, it 
is likely, of any American preacher. Mr. Wesley was then 
dead, but the painful tidings had not reached this country, 
and, therefore, Coke wrote without knowledge of that 
fact. He meant that in case Bishop White did not see a 
prospect of the union being accomplished, that the matter 
should be secret; for he said: " One thing only I will 
claim of your candor, that if you have no thoughts of im- 
proving this proposal you will burn this letter and take no 
more notice of it." The circumstances which led to the 
publication of the letter are given by Bishop White, who 
says he " kept silence on the subject of it, except in the 
permitted communications to the Bishops until the sum- 
mer of 1804, when I received, in one day, two letters from 

* Sprogue's Annals. 



American Methodism. 



349 



the Eastern Shore of Maryland. One of them was from 
the Rev. Simon Wilmer, of the Episcopal Church, and the 
other from the Rev. Mr. M'Claskey, of the Methodist com- 
munion. In a conversation between these two gentlemen 
the former had affirmed the fact of Dr. Coke's applica- 
tion, which was disbelieved by the other. This produced 
their respective letters, which were answered by a state- 
ment of the fact. The matter being afterward variously 
reported, a copy of the letter was, after some lapse of 
time, delivered to the Rev. Dr. Kemp, of Maryland, and 
at last became published in a controversy raised in the 
diocese." 

The opening of the correspondence by Dr. Coke could 
not, of course, be approved by the Church. At best it 
was an ill-advised act. Such a correspondence, which 
involved the rights and interests of the entire denomina- 
tion, he was not authorized to initiate. Dr. Bangs has 
said : " Those who have known these facts from the begin- 
ning have always considered it one of those precipitate acts 
of Dr. Coke, which his best friends and warmest admirers 
cannot but acknowledge sometimes marked his course. 
He, indeed, lived to see and acknowledge his error." 

Another occasion in which Dr. Coke's impulses mastered 
his prudence was that when he preached on the death of 
Wesley, in Baltimore, and alluded to the act by which, in 
1787, Mr. Wesley's name was expunged from the Minutes 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Coke was greatly 
grieved, not to say exasperated, by that action. Mr. Wesley 
was venerated by the American Methodists. This Dr. Coke 
knew. In his Journal he says: "It is remarkable how 
many children have been baptized in this country by the 
Christian name of Wesley. I question whether there have 
not been some hundreds of instances in all the States." 
And this was in Mr. Wesley's life-time. The ministers 
of the Methodist Episcopal Church, however, disputed 
Mr. Wesley's authority to govern them ecclesiastically, and 



350 



Centennial History of 



resisted it, as we have seen, so far as to strike his name 
from their official documents. 

On the 20th of April, 1791, as his Journal states,* Dr. 
Coke was at Port Royal, and received intelligence of the 
death of Mr. Wesley. The next morning he started in haste 
for New York,' to reach a British packet. He says : "I rode 
by day and by night. At Alexandria the news was confirmed 
by a letter from London. For near a day I was not able to 
weep ; but afterward some refreshing tears gave me almost 
inexpressible ease." On Sunday, the first of May, he reached 
Baltimore, " time enough," he says, " to send to the preacher, 
who was then engaged in divine service, to publish me to 
preach in the evening. The congregation was very large, 
and I had but one subject and, I may almost say, but one 
text : " And Elisha saw it, and he cried, 6 My father, my 
father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof ! ' " 

* There appears to be confusion of dates in the Journal. April 2*7, Dr. 
Coke speaks of being at a certain place, and in the succeeding paragraph, 
he gives the date of April 20, and notes his arrival at Port Royal. He then 
passes on without giving dates, but it would appear that the next day he 
heard of Wesley's death. The preceding passages in his Journal, however, 
indicate that his date of hearing of that event is wrong, for on April 27 he 
stales, "we opened our Conference at Petersburg, Virginia." On April 24, 
he states that he preached in Richmond. Thence he rode to another Con- 
ference, twenty-five miles from Richmond, and then says: "April 20, I am 
now come among the cedar- trees. They are not large, but their spreading 
boughs and conical appearance are very grand." He then proceeds to 
speak of his work and, without inserting any date, adds : " A gentleman of 
the name of Hipkins, a capital merchant in the town, sent us a genteel invi- 
tation to sup with him and lodge at his house. T accepted of it. Soon after 
I came in he observed that the Philadelphia paper had informed the public 
of the death of Mr. Wesley. I gave no credit to the account, but, however, 
entreated the favor of seeing the paper. He sent immediately to a neigh- 
boring merchant, who took in that paper, and about ten o'clock the melan- 
choly record arrived. I saw by the account that it was too true, that I had 
lost my friend, and that the world had lost a burning and a shining light." 
I think there is no doubt that Dr. Coke, who has here confused dates in 
his Journal, wrote his letter to Bishop White previous to the night he spent 
at the home of Mr. Hipkins, at Port Royal, Virginia. The fact that he 
reached Baltimore, May 1, after such rapid traveling, corroborates this opinion. 



American Methodism. 351 

While preaching, his feelings, already excited, seem 
to have been wrought to an unwonted pitch, and he ut- 
tered very severe words. He declared " that he deemed 
it the greatest sin of his ministerial life that he did 
not raise his voice against this act of treacherous cru- 
elty from one side of the continent to the other." This 
declaration is attested by one who heard the sermon, and 
who says that Dr. Coke furthermore called it " an almost 
diabolical act, namely, the expunging of Mr. Wesley's 
name from the American Minutes. He said that history 
furnished no parallel to it." Dr. Coke also said of that act 
of the Conference respecting Mr. Wesley: "I doubt 
whether the cruel usage he received in Baltimore, in 1787, 
when he was excommunicated, (wonderful and most unpar- 
alleled step !) did not hasten his death. Indeed, I little 
doubt it. For from the time he was informed of it, he 
began to hang down his head, and to think he had lived 
long enough." 

With respect to this sermon it must be remembered that 
Dr. Coke was smitten with grief by the death of Mr. Wes- 
ley ; that he had been traveling both day and night in order 
to get to London as quickly as possible ; that he was in the 
same city, and perhaps in the same church} where the act 
which he denounced was done, and therefore that his ar- 
dent feelings under the exciting conditions of the occasion 
swayed his tongue more than was their wont. Then the re- 
ports given by his hearers of what he said may, unintention- 
ally, have been overdrawn. Yet there can be no doubt that 
his expressions in that sermon concerning the treatment of 
Mr. Wesley by the Conference of 1787 were strong. He 
doubtless spoke as he believed, but his ardor gained advan- 
tage of his judgment. 

Mr. 'Kelly, in his attack on Mr. Asbury, referred to 
that discourse of Coke thus : " Did not Thomas, in behalf 
of Wesley, explode the conduct of Francis before a con- 
gregation in Baltimore ? " To which Mr. Snethen replied : 



352 Centennial History of 

" No, he did not. Dr. Coke made mention in the pulpit 
of Wesley's name being left out of the Minutes, and of- 
fered several remarks upon it ; but he did not blame Mr. 
Asbury for it. He never thought it to be Mr. Asbury's 
fault."' * 

Shortly after this Dr. Coke wrote of Wesley from " on 
board the William Penn, in the Delaware Bay, May 
17, 1791. O, my dear Brother Morrell, our deceased 
friend was worthy of much honor. I love him now more 
than ever. Surely he did not deserve the most cruel 
treatment he met with from five or six men in Baltimore, 
in the year 1787. I feel an inclination to publish their 
names to the world, that all suspicion may be taken away con- 
cerning others." " Dr. Coke had been so long accustomed 
to opposition," says his biographer, " that perseverance be- 
came necessary for him to carry his purposes into effect. 
This he possessed in an uncommon degree. He has been 
accused of giving way to a spirit of irritation. But this 
charge is only just under certain restrictions. And even 
where it is applicable, much allowance must be made for 
the trying circumstances in which he was placed, and for 
the multiplicity of jarring interests which it was scarcely 
possible for any man to reconcile, but the claims of which 
it was incumbent on him to adjust. Convinced of his er- 
ror he was more ready to make acknowledgment, and to 
beg pardon for his deviation from the rigid rule of deco- 
rum, than he had been to furnish an occasion for either. 
And the peculiar grace with which this was done rarely 
failed to disarm resentment and to procure for him the 
veneration and esteem of those whom he had opposed. If 
we subtract his irritability, his profusion of money, his im- 
providence, his precipitancy, and his occasionally severe 
expressions in the pulpit, nothing of magnitude will remain 
which his scrutinizing survivors would not be proud to 
own." f 

* Snethen's li Reply to O'Kelly." f Drew's Life of Dr. Coke. 



American Methodism. 



353 



Dr. Coke became unpleasantly involved with tlie Rev. 
Devereux Jarratt, an Episcopal clergyman of Virginia, 
who held very cordial relations with the Methodists. Jar- 
ratt was a friend of Asbury, who says of him : " He was 
the first who received our despised preachers, when 
strangers and unfriended. He took them to his house, 
and had societies formed in his parish. Some of his 
people became traveling preachers among us." * Concern- 
ing his ministerial character and work, Asbury said : " He 
was a faithful and successful preacher. He had witnessed 
four or five periodical revivals of religion in his parish. 
When he began his labors there was no other (that he 
knew of) evangelical minister in all the province ! He 
traveled into several counties, and there were very few 
parish churches within fifty miles of his own in which he 
had not preached ; to which labors of love and zeal were 
added preaching the word of life on solitary plantations 
and in meeting-houses." More than a year before Coke 
sailed for America, Dromgoole wrote to Wesley : " Mr. 
Jarratt is, and has been, a great friend of the cause of 
God." 

Mr. Jarratt also, according to Asbury, " possessed a great 
deal of natural oratory." He preached for the Meth- 
odists, and administered to them the sacrament of the 
Lord's Supper when they were without ordained ministers. 
Indeed, they knew him as a fellow-laborer in the kingdom 
and patience of Jesus. Learning of his decease, in 1801, 
Asbury wrote : " The old prophet, I hear, is dead." He 
preached a funeral sermon for Jarratt on the text, " Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant : thou hast been faith- 
ful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many 
things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." 

Dr. Coke met Mr. Jarratt on the 30th of March, 1785. 
Concerning that interview Coke wrote : " After duty, he 

* One of these was Francis Poythress, who was Asbury's chief lieuten- 
ant in the West, until mental disease removed him from the field. 



354 



Centennial History of 



went with me to one Brother Seaward's, in the State of 
Virginia, about eight miles off. We now talked largely on 
the Minutes concerning slavery, bat he would not be per- 
suaded. The secret is, he has twenty-four slaves of his 
own. I am afraid he will do infinite hurt by his opposi- 
tion to our rules." 

The feelings with which Dr. Coke parted with Mr. 
Jarratt at that time were, probably, not very complacent, 
as in a short time subsequently he wrote in his Journal : 
" Passed by the house of Mr. Jarratt, that violent assertor 
of the propriety and justice of Negro slavery. At noon I 
preached at White Oak Chapel, and lodged that night 
at the house of Brother Bees, one of our local preachers, 
a friend of God and man. He lives by Mr. Jarratt, and is 
the great bar in the hands of God to that fallen man's 
ruining our whole work in that neighborhood." * 

Of course, Mr. Jarratt was not pleased with such writing. 
He answered Dr. Coke, whose Journal was published in 
the American " Arminian Magazine," in 1789, in a man- 
ner that seemed somewhat retaliatory. Jarratt said : " Dr. 
Coke's Journal I hope to treat with becoming contempt. 
But should I light on him in a proper place, I might try 
to convict him of sin, or else furnish him with matter for 
a new Journal. His little soul, I believe, was exasperated 
at me for laughing at his episcopal credentials, which he 
vainly drew out upon me, with Mr. Wesley's hand and seal 
annexed forsooth." As to the matter of slavery, Mr. Jar- 
ratt says : " The truth is, the little man read the Minutes 
to me, and asked my opinion of them. I told him I was 
no friend to slavery: but, however, I did not think the 
Minutes proper, for two reasons : First, the disturbance it 
would make and the opposition it would meet in the soci- 
eties ; second, he ought not to make a disputable matter a 

* Coke's " Journal," p. 39. It should be remembered that Coke was so 
strongly antislavery that it would have been no injustice to describe him 
as an abolitionist. This, evidently, Jarratt was not. 



American Methodism. 



355 



term of communion ; and as lie was a stranger in the land, 
the spirit of Virginia would not brook force. Probably I 
gave him some advice, which the spirit of the Bishop 
looked upon as an insult. But I care not one straw for 
what he has journalized about me." * 

Jarratt's words seem lacking in the love that suffer- 
eth long and is kind. Such ebullitions of feeling by 
good men, and especially by leaders in the Church, 
excite pity and grief. ±so doubt the cutting words of 
Coke roused indignation in Jarratt ; and the leniency 
of the latter toward a system of bondage, which Coke 
abhorred as " the sum of all villainies," probably stirred 
his righteous soul to utter what, in other circumstances, 
he would have shrunk from writing. The weaknesses 
of even greatly pious men are made conspicuously visible 
by the very light which shines forth in their good works. 
We claim not angelic perfection for the fathers of Meth- 
odism, but sincerity, devotion to God and his Church, and 
self-sacrificing zeal for the salvation of men. 

Dr. Coke was one of Mr. Wesley's executors. He and 
the Kev. Henry Moore published a " Life of Wesley " the 
year following his death. In regard to this work Bishop 
Asbury said : " It is in general well compiled ; but the 
history of American Methodism is inaccurate in some of 
its details, and in some which are interesting." Dr. Coke 
wrote a number of books ; indeed, he was a voluminous 
writer. In Baltimore, a few weeks after the Christmas 
Conference, he wrote in his Journal, as published in 
the American " Arminian Magazine," thus: "Here I 
have printed, according to the desire of the Conference, the 
substance of a sermon which I preached at the ordination 
of Brother Asbury to the office of a Bishop. There is 
nothing in the world, I think, about which I find more 
reluctance than the becoming an author, but they force 

* Maryland Methodism and Slavery, by David Creamer. " Zion's Herald," 
October 25, 1S82. 



356 



Centennial Histoey of 



me into it." He published several sermons ; also, a com- 
mentary on the Bible. The latter was " confessedly a 
compilation." He said of it that " he had only been like 
the bee, culling honey from every flower." He also wrote 
a history of the West Indies and other works. In prepar- 
ing his commentary for the press, he engaged the assist- 
ance of Samuel Drew, who became his biographer. 

Dr. Coke was thoroughly in love with the great truths of 
Christianity, and with those distinctive tenets which have 
been so successfully propagated by Methodism. He de- 
fended by his pen the doctrine of justification by faith, as 
defined by Mr. Wesley, and also that of the witness of 
the Spirit. " Of his zeal and activity in spreading among 
the heathen the unsearchable riches of Christ, no evidence 
can be more decisive than the travels, voyages, journeys, 
perils, and difficulties which his life affords. 'In labors 
more abundant,' is a motto that has been almost proverb- 
ially affixed to his name, since death has closed his eyes. 
Besides crossing the Atlantic eighteen times, and perform- 
ing various other subordinate voyages, his journeys while 
on shore were almost without a parallel. On the American 
continent he traveled with the offers of salvation from 
'the Mississippi to the bay of Penobscot, and from the 
Chesapeake to the waters of Ohio.' 6 For nearly thirty 
years,' says Dr. Clarke, ' tiie late indefatigable and regretted 
Dr. Thomas Coke conducted those missions abroad, under 
the direction of the Methodist Conference, and by his 
rare and scarcely paralleled labors, and those connected 
with him in that work, many thousands of souls have 
been brought to the knowledge of God. He gave his 
life to this work. It was his meat and his drink ; and the 
convulsive effort that terminated his days was a missionary 
exertion to take the Gospel to the heathen of Serendib.' " 

It has been said of Dr. Coke that in the missionary work 
to which he was devoted he " stooped to the very drudgery 
of charity, and gratuitously pleaded the cause of a perish- 



American Methodism. 



357 



ing world from door to door." Missions were established 
under his labors " in almost every English island in the 
"West Indies. The flame of his missionary zeal burst forth 
on British America. Methodist societies were formed 
by him or under his superintendence in Nova Scotia, New 
Brunswick, and the islands on the eastern coast of the 
American continent, and subsequently in the Bahamas and 
Bermuda ; and to the coast of Africa also he directed his 
zealous efforts." 

He contributed largely of his own funds to the cause 
of missions and to charity. It appears that he gave 
attention and probably aid to Bishop Asbury's parents 
in England. It has been remarked how steadfast was 
Asbury's friendship for Coke, as illustrated by the plea 
he made in his behalf at the General Conference of 
1796. Asbury was a man of too sturdy honor to forget 
Coke's kindness. He wrote to his parents in England : 
" I have requested, and will request Dr. Coke, as he is so 
frequently in England, to know and supply, or order a 
supply, of all your wants. Every act of kindness done to 
you in England, I shall return to the doctor when in 
America ; and also repay what he requires." At another 
time he said to his parents : " I wrote to Dr. Coke to let 
you have ten guineas, and I would repay him when he 
comes to the continent." To his mother he wrote : " My 
mind is at rest with respect to your temporalities from the 
assurances I have had that Brother Coke will supply you." 
Again he says to her: "If at any time you should be 
shortened, write to the doctor and he will supply you." 
Coke's peculiarities, which were distasteful to some of the 
American preachers, and which possibly Asbury did not 
admire, could not alienate Asbury's filial heart from the 
man who kindly ministered to the necessities of his parents. 
Dr. Bangs heard Asbury preach the funeral sermon of 
Coke before the New York Conference, and he says : " I 
distinctly remember to have heard him say that never did 



358 



Centennial History of 



a faithful servant wait on his master with more delight 
than he had done during their travels together in America 
on Dr. Coke." 

Dr. Coke expended " a considerable sum, in addition to 
what Conference allowed, on the outfit of that mission to 
Asia in which he ended his days. The property which at 
his departure from England he consigned over to his 
executors, in trust, he has bequeathed, exclusively of two 
legacies, to the ultimate support of that general cause, 
in a strong attachment to which he lived and died. 
This property he has given to ' a certain benefit society 
instituted by the Conference of the people called Method- 
ists, late in connection with the Rev. John Wesley, de- 
ceased, called 6 The Itinerant Methodist Preacher's An- 
nuity.' " 

In a sermon shortly before he sailed on his last mission- 
ary voyage Dr. Coke said : " It is of little consequence 
whether we take our flight to glory from the land of our 
nativity, from the trackless ocean, or the shores of Ceylon." 
From " the trackless ocean " he did take his " flight." On 
the morning of the third of May, 1814, Dr. Coke, who 
had been previously indisposed, was found dead on the 
cabin floor. On that day the mortal remains of the untir- 
ing and devoted Christian propagandist were consigned to 
the ocean, to await the swift coming day when the sea 
shall give up its dead. 

Of Dr. Coke it has been said, by Dr. Bangs : " His art- 
lessness, impelled as it was by a strong and irrepressible 
desire to do good, may have betrayed him into errors ; but 
these errors are more than atoned for by that untiring zeal 
and perpetual activity in the cause of Christ which charac- 
terized his career of usefulness, and which places his name 
upon the records of the Church as one of her brightest 
ornaments and most devoted ministers. Though his bones 
are mingled with the coral sands of the Indian Ocean, it 
must not be forgotten that he had traversed the broad 



American Methodism. 



359 



Atlantic no less than eighteen times on errands of mercy 
and love to his American brethren. The name of Coke, 
therefore, will ever be associated with the worthies who 
founded the Methodist Episcopal Church, and hallowed in 
the recollection of those of her sons who take pleasure in 
' marking well her bulwarks, and telling the towers thereof.' 
Nor is it more than a sacred duty to rescue his name from 
undeserved reproach, and place it on one of those pillars in 
that temple of our glory which his hands contributed to 
erect." 

Dr. Coke was not perfect ; but he was an able, zealous, 
successful laborer in the great harvest-field. His name 
was known and his influence was felt in many lands. Two 
of the most laborious Christian ministers whose names are 
known to history were joined together as the first Super- 
intendents of the Methodist Episcopal Church, namely, 
Thomas Coke and Francis Asbury. 

Asbury wrote in the beginning of 1S14, concerning 
Coke's last missionary enterprise, these words: " We learn 
that Bishop Coke, with seven young preachers, has sailed 
for the East Indies. The British Society is poor, as well 
as ourselves, it would appear ; this is a good sign. In less 
than one hundred years [seventy-five years] Methodism has 
spread over three quarters of the globe ; and it is now 
about to carry the Gospel of salvation into Asia. Amen." 

At the New York Conference, in May, 1815, Bishop 
Asbury says : " By vote I preached the funeral sermon for 
Dr. Coke — of blessed mind and soul — of the third branch 
of Oxonian Methodists — a gentleman, a scholar, and a 
Bishop to us — and as a minister of Christ, in zeal, in labors, 
and in services the greatest man in the last century." Dr. 
Bangs, who was present, says that " in that sermon be bore 
the most full and unequivocal testimony to the integrity, 
fidelity, usefulness, and exalted character of his deceased 
colleague." 

At the Conference held in Lebanon, Ohio, in October of 



360 



Centennial History of 



the same year, Asbury delivered another tribute to the 
memory of his ascended friend. It was less than six months 
before his own coronation. Of that service he wrote : 
" Ministers should be resplendent, like a city illuminated in 
the night : a great light amidst churches in darkness and 
slumber — like Dr. Coke, whose effulgence beamed forth in 
missions, in labors, in Europe, in America, in the isles of 
the sea, and in Asia. I took occasion to particularize the 
abundant labors of this distinguished man of God." 



American Methodism. 



361 



CHAPTER XVI. 



RICHARD WHATCOAT. 



NE of the saintliest men of his time was Richard 



\J "Whatcoat. He was born in the parish of Quinton, 
England, in the year 1736. While young his father died, 
leaving him and four other children with a widowed 
mother. At the age of thirteen he became an apprentice, 
in which capacity he served eight years. "I was never 
heard," he says, " during this time to swear a vain oath, 
nor was I ever given to lying, gaming, drunkenness, or 
any other presumptuous sin, but was commended for my 
honesty and sobriety." 

After he reached his majority he became acquainted with 
a family with whom he went to hear the Methodists. He list- 
ened attentively and thought the preacher spoke as if he 
knew all his heart. He was deeply awakened. He began 
to realize the "terrors of the Lord," and could have wished 
to be annihilated if thereby he might escape the Judgment. 
" Life," he says, " was a burden, and I became regardless of 
all things under the sun. Now all my virtues, which I had 
some reliance on once, appeared as filthy rags. Many dis- 
couraging thoughts were put into my mind, as ' Many are 
called, but few chosen ;' ' Hath not the potter power over 
his own clay, to make one vessel to honor, and another 
to dishonor ? ' From which it was suggested to me that I 
was made to dishonor, and so must inevitably perish. 

" On September 3, 1758, being overwhelmed with guilt 
and fear, as I was reading, it was as if one whispered to 
me, 1 Thou hadst better read no more, for the more thou 
readest the more thou wilt know.' I paused a little and 
then resolved, let the consequence be what it may, I will 




16 



362 



Centennial Histoky of 



proceed. When I came to those words, ' The Spirit itself 
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children 
of God,' as I fixed my eyes upon them, in a moment my 
darkness was removed, and the Spirit did bear witness 
with my spirit that I was a child of God. In the same 
instant I was filled with unspeakable peace and joy in be- 
lieving. All fear of death, judgment, and hell, suddenly 
vanished away. Before this I was kept awake by anguish 
and fear, so that I could not get an hour's sound sleep at 
night. ~Now I wanted not sleep, being abundantly refreshed 
by contemplating the rich display of God's mercy in 
adopting me to be an heir of the kingdom of heaven. 

" This peace and joy continued about three weeks, after 
which it was suggested to me, ' Hast not thou deceived 
thyself ? Is it not presumption to think thou art a child 
of God '? But if thou art, thou wilt soon fall away ; thou 
wilt not endure to the end ! ' This threw me into great 
heaviness, but it did not continue long ; for as I gave my- 
self unto prayer, and to reading and hearing the word of 
God at all opportunities, my evidence became clearer and 
clearer, my faith and love stronger and stronger. I found 
the accomplishment of the promise : ' They that wait upon 
the Lord shall renew their strength.' 

"I soon found that, though I was justified freely, I was 
not wholly sanctified. This brought me into a deep con- 
cern, and confirmed my resolution to admit of no peace 
nor truce with the evils which I still found in my heart. 
After many sharp and painful conflicts and many gracious 
visitations, on March 28, 1761, my spirit was drawn out 
and engaged in wrestling with God for about two hours in 
a manner I never did before. Suddenly I was stripped of 
all but love. I was all love and prayer and praise. In 
this happy state, rejoicing evermore and in every thing 
giving thanks, I continued for some years, wanting noth- 
ing but God for soul or body more than I received from 
day to day. 



American Methodism. 



363 



" I began to look around, and to observe more than ever 
the whole world full of sin and misery. I felt a strong 
desire for others to partake of the same happiness ; I longed 
to declare unto them what I knew of our Saviour. I first 
sat down to count the cost, and being then fully convinced 
of my duty, I began to exhort those of the neighboring 
towns to repent and believe the Gospel. This I did for 
about a year and a half ; but was still convinced I might 
be more useful as a traveling preacher. This I mentioned 
to Mr. Pawson a little before the Conference of 1769. A 
little after it he wrote and let me know that he had pro- 
posed me at the Conference, and that I was accepted as a 
probationer, and stationed in the Oxfordshire Circuit." 

"Whatcoat now began that course of ministerial labor 
which he prosecuted with such fidelity in two hemispheres 
for nearly forty years. "When he had been eleven years 
an itinerant in England and in Ireland, he wrote that 
God had enabled him to persevere in the work " with a 
single eye." He adds : " He has kept my heart disengaged 
from all creature loves, and all desire of worldly happi- 
ness. I can truly say 

" ' Blest with the scorn of finite good 
My soul is lightened of her load 
And seeks the things above.' " * 

He, as we have seen, was ordained by Mr. Wesley for 
the work in the United States in 1784, and arrived at 
New York, with Coke and Yasey, November 3d of that 
year. Thenceforth he devoted his talents and energies to 
the work of God in the New World. He and Asbury were 
friends in their youth in England, and were true yoke-fel- 
lows in America. Whatcoat also enjoyed the confidence 
of Wesley in a large degree, as is shown by the fact that 
the latter designated him for the Superintendency in the 
new Church. 

*"Arminian Magazine," London, 1781. 



364: 



Centennial History of 



Mr. Whatcoat was a very laborious man, as his extensive 
and unceasing activity as preacher, presiding elder, and 
Superintendent in this country, attest. He went forward 
joyfully amid weariness and hardshij} proclaiming in the 
wilds of America as he did previously in populous Europe 
"the glorious Gospel of Christ," Three years before his 
promotion to the episcopacy he traveled a district which 
" embraced almost the entire scope of country between the 
James and the Koanoke Eivers, and from the Blue Ridge 
to the sea-board." 

Mr. Whatcoat states that " on this district we passed 
through and touched on thirty counties in Virginia and 
North Carolina ; it took me about six, or between that 
and seven, hundred miles to go through my district once 
in three months. We had a great revival in several parts 
of this district, I filled up my time with agood degree of 
peace and consolation." 

We have in a former chapter contemplated the powerful 
revival movement of 1789. In that great work Whatcoat 
was a laborer in Maryland, where he at the time exercised 
the office of presiding elder. In his Journal we get a view 
of the revival as he witnessed it in connection with his 
zealous labors. He says : "The 26th of April, 1789, at a 
quarterly meeting held at the old meeting-house near 
Cambridge, Dover County, the Lord came in power at our 
sacrament. The cries of mourners and the ecstasies of 
believers were such that the preacher's voice could scarcely 
be heard for three hours. Many were added to the num- 
ber of true believers. At our quarterly meeting, held at 
St. Michael's, for Talbot Circuit, the power of the Lord 
was present to wound and to heal. Sabbath following our 
quarterly meeting, held at Johnstown, for Caroline Circuit, 
was yet more glorious. The power of our Lord came down 
at our love-feast. The house was filled with the members 
of our societies, and great numbers of people were on the 
outside. The doors and windows were thrown oj)en, and 



American Methodism. 



365 



some thronged in at the latter. Such times my eyes never 
beheld before." 

Whatcoat further says, that " the power of the Lord 
spread from circuit to circuit. O how delightful it is to 
preach glad tidings when we see souls coming home to 
God as doves to their windows." 

In the year 1800 Mr. "Whatcoat was elected Bishop by 
a very small majority over his competitor, Jesse Lee, at 
the General Conference, in Baltimore. He was then ad- 
vanced in years, yet he undertook the laborious charge, 
and, with a sanctity of spirit and purity of life seldom sur- 
passed, he administered the high trust that was confided to 
him by the Church until he 

"His body with his charge laid down 
Aud ceased at once to work and live." 

The year that he entered upon the labors of the episcopate 
we find him and Asbury braving the hardships of a South- 
ern tour. A man of sixty-four years, he says : " The way 
we traveled from Nashville to Knoxville, Tennessee, was 
about two hundred and twenty-three miles, partly a south- 
west course. It was trying to our delicate constitutions to 
ride through the rain a great part of the day until late in 
the night, and then to encamp on the wet ground, the wind 
and rain beating hard upon us." They proceeded to 
Augusta, Georgia. Says Whatcoat : " O what mountains 
and rocks we had to pass over ! When we came within a 
few miles of the hot springs, Bishop Asbury got a friend 
to lead his horse ; but the road being rough and narrow 
the horse stumbled or started and turned the sulky bottom 
upward, between the Paint Bock, French Broad Kiver. 
The horse lay quietly on his back until we released the 
harness. The carriage rested against a large sapling, 
which supported it from going down into the river."* 

With reference to his travels as a Superintendent the 
* " Whatcoat's Journal," in Memoirs by Phoebus. 



366 



Centennial History of 



aged Whatcoat subsequently wrote : " In the last twelve 
months I have traveled about three thousand seven hun- 
dred miles, and in the sixty-seventh year of my age, 
though I have had considerable afflictions, which have 
greatly shaken this house of clay." 

Bishop Whatcoat was a man of very respectable talents 
and of extraordinary piety. His saintly character and un- 
selfish labors were a benediction to the young Church in 
America. His experience, wisdom, zeal, and toil were 
freely given to it, and he was an effective agent in build- 
ing it up in holiness as well as in numbers and resources. 
Beginning with its organization, he served it unweariedly 
and with complete consecration for more than twenty-one 
years, and then he triumphantly ascended to his rest. " The 
chief glory of his life," says one who knew him, " was that 
he was always about his Master's business." 

The Rev. Nicholas Snethen, who had excellent oppor- 
tunities to know him, thus describes the second Bishop 
who gave himself fully to episcopal service in the Church : 
" Mr. Whatcoat was not among the least. His life, as a 
pious young lady used to say, 'was like an even-spun 
thread.' He had a second suit of natural hair, which did 
not grow gray till late in life, * and he never lost entirely 
his European color. His features were small and his coun- 
tenance smooth and placid. In his neat, plain parson's 
gray, after returning from the devotions of the closet, a . 
painter or a sculptor might have taken him as a model for 
a representation of piety. The mild, the complacent, and 
the dignified were so happily blended in his looks as to 
fill the beholder with reverence and love. His speech was 
somewhat slow and drawling, but not disagreeable after a 
little. His excellent matter came so warm from the heart 
that a general spirit of devotion never failed to kindle and 
blaze afresh under its sounds. His very appearance in the 
pulpit did his hearers good. 

* Mr. Boehni says Wbatcoat's last hair never turned gray. 



American Methodism. 



367 



"His arrangement and expression were uncommonly 
clear and perspicuous. He preached more frequently 
from the Old Testament than any preacher I remember to 
have heard. It was delightful to hear him in his best 
mood upon, c Bat the word of the Lord is not bound.' 
Never was the truth of an assertion more fully verified by 
the hearer's feelings." 

The Kev. James Patterson says : " I have often lament- 
ed that so little notice has been taken of Bishop Whatcoat. 
I traveled in company with him several times before and 
after he was made a Bishop, and a more upright and holy 
man I believe I never saw. I heard him preach when far 
advanced in life from, i I will ransom them from the power 
of the grave ; I will redeem them from death : O death, 
I will be thy plagues ; O grave, I will be thy destruction.' 
I was astonished to hear a sermon delivered with such 
pathos and animation, that made not only the good man 
feel, but compelled the most unfeeling to feel, by a man 
almost worn away by the lapse of time and excessive 
labor." * 

The Kev. Dr. Laban Clark, who knew Whatcoat only as 
a Bishop, gives a view of him in that office : " My first 
acquaintance with him was at the New York Conference 
in 1801. I was charmed not more with the simplicity and 
dignity of his manner as a presiding officer in the Confer- 
ence, than I was with his kind and cordial intercourse with 
the preachers out of it. The week following I was in his 
company parts of two days in Westchester County and 
heard him preach an excellent sermon on * We glory in 
tribulations also,' etc. The discourse was plain and in- 
structive, and, in a high degree, spiritual. While it was 
adapted to all Christians, it was especially appropriate to 
the young preachers who were entering the field of itiner- 
ant labor at a sacrifice which it is not now easy to esti- 
mate. 

* "Christian Advocate and Journal," February 15, 1828. 



36S 



Centennial History of 



" In 1803 Bishop Whatcoat, in company with Bishop 
Asbury, attended the Conference at Ashgrove, Washing- 
ton County, New York, at which Bishop Hedding, myself, 
and some others were admitted to holy orders. Bishop 
Whatcoat preached the ordination sermon ; and with 
such force of argument and all-subduing pathos did he 
urge holinesss of heart and life that the whole congrega- 
tion was moved as a forest waves before the power of a 
mighty wind. At the commencement of his discourse 
there was a breathless silence, the interest became more 
intense as he advanced, and before he concluded there was 
a general burst of impassioned feeling throughout the 
whole assembly." * 

Mr. Boehm says Whatcoat excelled as a preacher. " He 
could melt and mold an audience as few men ever did. 
The holy anointing rested on him and a peculiar unction 
attended his words. He professed purity of heart, and no 
one who knew him doubted his possession of it. A holier 
man has not lived since the days of the seraphic Fletch- 
er." f Bishop Asbury said of his ascended colleague : "A 
man so uniformly good I have not known in Europe or 
America." 

Whatcoat attended a love-feast in the city of New York 
which was long remembered. Dr. Wakeley, in his " Lost 
Chapters," says : " An old minister who was present gave 
me a description of the scene. The house was filled with 
glory, and was so full there was not bread enough to sup- 
ply all. Some one informed Whatcoat they were out of 
bread. £ Glory to God !' said the old man, ' there is bread 
enough in heaven. In our Father's house there is bread 
enough and to spare.' Shout after shout, halleluiah after 
halleluiah, rapidly succeeded each other. When he prayed 
it seemed as if he had one hand hold of heaven and the 
other of earth and he brought them together. As he 

*Sprague's " Aunals of the American Pulpit." 
f Boehm's Reminiscences. 



American Methodism. 



369 



prayed lie cried : ' Power, power ! now, Lord, send the 
power !' O what power came down ! Not a stream ; it 
was like a cloud breaking and inundating the earth." 

The ministry of Methodism has been distinguished for 
the proclamation of a full as well as a present salvation. 
They have shown to believers the largeness of Christian 
privilege. Holiness was a familiar theme with Bishop 
Whatcoat. In 1802 he visited a considerable district in 
the State of New York. Mr. Colbert was then presiding 
elder of Albany District. September 8th of that year 
Colbert says : u Heard Bishop Whatcoat preach on sancti- 
fication. His text was : 4 This is the will of God, even 
your sanctification.' " The following Sunday he was at a 
quarterly meeting. Colbert says: "Thanks to God we 
had a melting season in the love-feast. Ten joined the 
society. We then took a large congregation into the 
woods. Bishop Whatcoat preached a powerful sermon 
from Job xxi, 22. I spoke after him from Luke xvi, 9. 
Brother Bidlack spoke after me. "We then administered 
the Lord's Supper, and a good time we had. Several were 
brought to cry to God for clean hearts." * 

The venerable Boehni, when he had nearly completed a 
century of life, related to the author of this volume some 
of his recollections of Whatcoat, and also of his death. 
Mr. Boehm said : " Bishop Whatcoat' s preaching indicated 
deep piety. I have seen congregations melted under his 
sermons like wax before the fire. He had a plain, gospel 

* The Journal of Mr. Colbert shows that it was usual at quarterly meet- 
ings eighty to ninety years ago to have two sermons, one or more exhor- 
tations, besides the sacrament, at a single public service on Sunday. The 
following from Colbert, February 4, 1798. is an illustration: "This morning 
we had a love-feast. Many precious souls, I trust, were happy, and some 
cried to the Lord for mercy; after which Brother Ware preached on John 
iii, 7. Brother Chandler gave them a discourse after him. I spoke after 
him, but being pinched for time I had not much satisfaction in speaking. 
When I had done we proceeded to the administration of the Lord's Supper, 
which closed the solemnities of the day." 
16* 



370 



Centennial History of 



st} T le. His manner was mixed with mildness, energy, and 
power. He was a stout man, of good presence. He died 
in my circuit in 1806. I shaved him two days before he 
died. While I was shaving him he became affected, and I 
had to stop. Then he said : ' I have been thinking of the 
many pious people I have known in Europe and America, 
and what a glorious time we shall have when we meet 
in heaven." Bishop Whatcoat died at the house of Eichard 
Bassett, Dover, Delaware, July 5, 1806; and there in the 
grave his dust awaits " the voice of the archangel and the 
trump of God." 

It was fortunate for the new Church that Eichard What- 
coat was sent to share in the work of laying its foundations 
and rearing its superstructure. Although he had not that 
vast capacity for administration which distinguished As- 
bury, he was a beautiful example of the meek and holy 
faith which he so diligently propagated. It is said that 
once when Asbury complained of the annoyance he suf- 
fered from so much company, Whatcoat mildly answered, 
" O Bishop, how much worse we should feel if we were 
entirely neglected." Asbury accepted the reproof, and 
thanked him. 

The serene, the gentle, the holy Whatcoat was a fitting 
companion in the Superintendency of the indomitable, 
resolute, and consecrated Asbury. Of Whatcoat it has 
been said : " This holy man was sent to the Church as if 
for a sample, to show what a life of peace and holiness 
Christians may attain on earth, where sincerity, privation, 
diligence, watchfulness, love of divine communion, and 
humble and active faith do meet and center." 



Amebicak Methodism. 



371 



CHAPTER XYII. 

THE PREACHERS OP THE CHRISTMAS CONFERENCE. 

IK the first chapter we saw that the Christmas Confer- 
ence w^as a remarkable body. It performed a great, 
beneficent, and enduring work. It brought into being a 
Church of unique form, winch has proved efficient beyond 
any modern ecclesiastical organization in spreading evan- 
gelical Christianity. In another chapter we ascertained 
the names of a number of the preachers who composed 
the Conference which founded the Methodist Episcopal 
Church. "We will now contemplate their character and 
their history. 

WILLIAM BLACK. 

William Black was born in Huddersfield, England, in 
the year 1760. He removed to Nova Scotia in 1775. He 
was the subject of powerful religious exercises in 1779. 
He was happily converted, and soon began to preach. He 
was a very fervent, zealous Christian, and one of the ear- 
liest itinerants of Methodism in that part of the British 
dominions. In 17S1 he came to the United States to ob- 
tain laborers for Nova Scotia, and attended the Christmas 
Conference, preaching in Boston, Long Island, and Con- 
necticut in the course of his travels. Freeborn Garrettson 
and James O. Cromwell were, as we have seen, appointed 
to re-enforce the work there, and soon sailed for Halifax. 
Thirty-one years afterward Mr. Black again appeared in 
Baltimore, as fraternal delegate from the British Confer- 
ence to the General Conference of the Methodist Episco- 
pal Church in 1S16. Before that time, however, he had 
visited his brethren in the United States, at General Con- 



372 



Centennial Histoey of 



ference. We have seen that he preached for some time 
in Boston, after the close of the Christmas Conference, 
in 1785. This appears to have been the whole of his re- 
lation to the work in the United States. He died Septem- 
ber 8, 1834. 

CALEB BOYER. 

Mr. Boyer was one of the luminaries of the young 
Church. He was evidently a man of mental poise and 
force, and of high excellence of character. He was a 
native of Kent County, Delaware, and was converted un- 
der the ministry of Mr. - Garrettson, in 1778. He soon 
joined the itinerancy. " He was a great extemporizer, 
and was considered one of the greatest preachers " of the 
denomination. The insufficiency of the ministerial sup- 
port in that day to properly maintain a family led him 
to locate in 1788. For twenty-five years thereafter he 
gave the Church his services in a local capacity. It is 
believed that he located in Delaware.* 

Of Mr. Boyer the Kev. Thomas Smith gives two brief 
but suggestive notices in his Journal. July 26, 1798, he 
says : " Brother Caleb Boyer, an old traveling preacher, 
aided in the services of this day. Though he is tired in 
the work, he is not tired of the work. His counsel and ad- 
vice were a blessing to me, and, no doubt, to many others." 
A few months later Mr. Smith says: "Brother Caleb 
Boyer preached in my place, much to the comfort of his 
hearers. He is profound in divinity, a man of sound judg- 
ment, and well matured in the things of God." Thomas 
Ware says " Boyer was the Paul " of the old itinerancy. 

The latest glimpse we get of Mr. Boyer is at the Gen- 
eral Conference of 1804. The question whether local 
preachers should be admitted to the order of elder was 
considered by that Conference, and failed by a tie vote. 
While the question was pending the following action was 

* Lednum's " Kise of Methodism in America," pp. 304, 305. 



American Methodism. 



373 



taken, as appears by the " Journal of the General Confer- 
ence : " " Solomon Harris moved, as a favor, that Brother 
Caleb Boyer have permission to make one speech on the 
subject now before the house. Carried."* Being a located 
preacher, Mr. Boyer was not, of course, a member of the 
body. Such courtesy of the General Conference to him 
shows the estimation in which he was held by the ministry 
at that time. 

LE ROY COLE. 

Le Roy Cole was born in Essex County, Virginia, 
June 5, 1749. Until he was twenty-six years old the 
Methodist preachers were not known in his section. A 
brother of Cole heard them elsewhere and brought a very 
favorable report of their labors. " From what he said," 
says Cole, " I was deeply impressed that they were Gospel 
ministers, and that it was the work of God among them. 
From this view I went into the field and lifted my hands 
and heart to God, and made a solemn vow that I would 
serve him all the days of my life. I prepared myself, and 
went about one hundred miles in pursuit of these minis- 
ters. I called at a house where I understood the people 
were Methodists, and while I was there a traveling min- 
ister came in, namely, James Foster. I viewed him with 
scrutiny, and was well pleased with all his movements. 
Under his prayer my feelings were so awakened that, after 
he closed, I sat by him and put my arm around him. 
About three weeks after, I set out to seek the Lord. The 
Father of mercies was graciously pleased at a night meet- 
ing, between the hours of twelve and one, powerfully to 
convert my soul. From that time I walked in the sun- 
shine of his love from day to day, from month to month, 
and from year to year."f 

After his conversion Cole invited Mr. Shadford to visit 

*" Journal of the General Conference," 1S04, p. 62. 
| "Christian Advocate and Journal," March 19, 1830. 



374: 



Centennial Histoey of 



his father's house. Shadford did so, and spent some time 
in that region. The year that Cole was converted Shad- 
ford gave him a license to preach. He joined the itiner- 
ancy and his first appointment was Tar River."* His name 
first appears on the Minutes as one of four preachers who 
were sent to Xorth Carolina. 

At the Christmas Conference Mr. Cole was promoted 
to the orders of deacon and elder. At the Conference in 
June, 17S5, held in Baltimore, he was suspended from the 
ministrv. "What the charges ag ainst him were is not record- 
ed, but Dr. Coke says : " "We opened our Conference and 
were driven to the painful necessity of suspending a mem- 
ber, and he no less than an elder, a man who for ten years 
had retained an unblemished reputation. 'Let him that 
most assuredly standeth take heed lest he fall.' " f This 
statement refers to Cole, for he was the only " elder" who 
was deposed from the ministry at that Conference. The 
following brief passage occurs in the Minutes of 1785 : 
" Quest. 9. Who is laid aside ? Le Eoy Cole." 

Whatever was the allegation against him, Cole asserted 
his innocence. It is said he was the victim of a fierce 
persecution, from which he was unable to escape. He 
firmly trusted God for his vindication, and " in less than 
a year the Conference became convinced of the injustice of 
its verdict, and invited Mr. Cole again into their fellow- 
ship."^: He then traveled a few years, when, in impaired 
health, he retired from the itinerant field. 

In the year 1808 he removed to Kentucky. In 1814 
he entered the Kentucky Conference. He labored only a 
few years in the ranks of the western itinerants, but he 
remained in fellowship with his brethren in Conference 
until his death. 

The Bev. Henry Boehm states that he was with Bishop 

* "Christian Advocate and Journal," March 19, 1830. 

f Coke's Journal, American ;; Armiuian Magazine," 17S9, p. 397. 

% Redford's " History of Methodism in Kentucky," vol. ii, pp. 312, 313. 



American Methodism. 



375 



Asbury when the latter visited Mr. Cole, at his farm, near 
Lexington, Kentucky. " He was," says Mr. Boehm, " be- 
loved and respected. Mr. Asbury's visiting him, and the 
friendship he exhibited, shows he had confidence in him." * 

Cole is described as " a lively preacher." FTe occupied 
a front rank in the ministry of Kentucky, " and by the holi- 
ness of his life, as well as by the pursuasive power of his 
eloquence, pushed forward the victories of the Cross." f 

It is said that camp-meetings twice passed into disuse in 
a portion of the country, and were each time revived by 
Mr. Cole. In this department of labor he was very use- 
ful. He was an uncle, by marriage, of the late Bishop 
Kavanaugh, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. 
After a service of more than fifty years in the ministry, 
though part of that time he spent in a local sphere, he 
died February 6, 1830. " He was a model of patience 
in severe bodily affliction." His end was triumphant. 

JAMES 0. CROMWELL. 

It is said that Mr. Cromwell's father was a Church- 
man whose home, near Baltimore, lie opened to the 
Methodists. James appears as an itinerant in 1780. In 
1781 Mr. Cromwell was with Joseph Everett in West 
Jersey. Everett alludes to Cromwell as one " whom I 
loved and looked upon as a good man." In 1782 he 
was on Fluvanna Circuit, in Virginia, with William Wat- 
ters, who says : " Brother Cromwell labored hard and dili- 
gently, but was often much discouraged, and even dejected." 
From the Christmas Conference, as we have seen, he went 
as a missionary to Nova Scotia. While there Mr. Wesley 
corresponded with him, as appears from a letter addressed to 
him at Shelburne, E"ova Scotia, dated February 26, 1786. 
In this letter Wesley speaks of one of his early mission- 

* Boehm's Reminiscences, p. 322. 

f Redford's "History of Methodism in Kentucky." 



376 



Centennial History of 



aries to America who became an Episcopal clergyman : " I 
wish Mr. Pilmoor may do much good. But I am afraid 
he will rather do hurt ; for he does not believe any 
thing of Christian perfection, and I think he does be- 
lieve final perseverance." Mr. Wesley concludes his letter 
to Cromwell thus : " I now almost give up the thought of 
seeing America any more. Our borders are now enlarged, 
including not only Great Britain and America, but the 
Isle of Man, the Isle of Wight, with Jersey and Guernsey. 
" I am, dear James, your affectionate brother, 

"J.Wesley."* 

Eeturning from Nova Scotia, Cromwell, in 1788, was in 
charge of the district of New Jersey. He remained three 
years in that field. During his presiding eldership the 
great revival of 1789 in New Jersey occurred. " The old 
people, who remember his quarterly visitations in this 
region, say he was a devout man and a powerful preach er/'f 

Cromwell found a wife in New Jersey. In 1789 Miss 
Elizabeth Fidler, of that State, became Mrs. Cromwell. Her 
father was among the first of those who opened their doors 
to Methodist preachers in that province. She was con- 
verted at the age of sixteen, and years afterward she 
united her destinies with those of the presiding elder of 
the district of New Jersey. She is described as u a Chris- 
tian of no ordinary grade." Fearless of death, she died, 
at the residence of her son, in Baltimore County, Mary- 
land, October 8, 18324 

In 1792 Cromwell was appointed to Baltimore. In 1793 
he located. 

The Rev. Henry Smith labored in Baltimore Circuit in 
1806, and there knew Mr. Cromwell. Mr. Smith says : 
" While on this circuit I became acquainted with another 

* " Christian Advocate and Journal," June 24, 1846. 

f Ra3 r bold's " Methodism in West Jersey." 

% " Christian Advocate and Journal," November 9, 1832. 



American" Methodism. 



377 



old soldier of the Cross, namely, James O. Cromwell. He 
was with Freeborn Garrettson in Nova Scotia after the 
Revolutionary "War, and his labors and sufferings had been 
great. He was an humble, sweet-spirited man, though 
his mind was very much impaired, and he the mere 
shadow of what he had been. He still preached occa- 
sionally." 

Cromwell's health was probably shattered by his exten- 
sive travels, privations, and toils. His sufferings continued 
through his last years. His wife's " faith and patience 
were fully tested" during the years of his affliction, in 
which she gave him her watchful care. " Amid all her 
watchings and anxious concern for the partner of her 
youth she exhibited a mind tranquilized by the consola- 
tions of the Holy Spirit."* Mr. Cromwell died in 1829.f 
Henry Smith says of him : " He now rests from his labors, 
and is free from his infirmities." 

EDWARD DROMGOOLE. 

Mr. Dromgoole was born in Sligo, Ireland, about the 
year 1751. " The name is quite ancient in Irish history, 
and has been traced back for several hundred years to its 
early origin among the clans of Finland. It is a compound 
name, and its two component parts are derived from Drom, 
a mountain, and Goole, a clan ; which, put together, signify 
a mountain clan." % 

Mr. Dromgoole was brought up a Roman Catholic. 
When he was approaching manhood he heard the Meth- 
odists in his native country, and was convicted of sin. He 
began to read the Bible. " I joined in society," he says, 
" and in a few weeks resolved to read my recantation pub- 

* Obituary notice of Mrs. Cromwell, in "Christian Advocate and Journal," 
November 9, 1832. 

f " Christian Advocate and Journal," November 9, 1S32. 

% Edward Dromgoole, Esq., of Brunswick County, Va., who kindly wrote 
for the author of this volume a sketch of his sainted grandfather. 



378 



Centennial History of 



liclj in the church. This procured me the displeasure of 
some of my relations." * 

In May, 1770, he sailed for America, and reached Balti- 
more the following August. He settled at Frederick, Mary- 
land. In the ensuing autumn he heard Mr. Strawbridge. 
" During twelve months," he says, u I had frequent and 
strong convictions on my mind, and was often under great 
fear lest I should be lost forever. One Sunday evening, 
while I was in great distress of soul at prayer, the Lord 
visited me with his salvation; but being ignorant, I did 
not then believe that my sins were forgiven, and after a 
few days lost my comfort. I now felt different from 
what I had done. My burden was removed, and yet I 
feared I was given over to a hard heart, for I could neither 
repent nor fear as I had done. My distress and trouble 
greatly increased, till, one evening in prayer, the Lord 
showed me that he had blessed me." 

Dromgoole began to preach about 1774, and in that year 
he was appointed to Baltimore. His travels were exten- 
sive before and during the Revolution, in which time he 
witnessed, notwithstanding the disturbed state of the coun- 
try, the triumphs of the Gospel. " The work in A merica," 
he wrote at the close of the war, " has gone on with amaz- 
ing swiftness since the war began." Says his grandson: 
" As soon as the war broke out, he took the oath of alle- 
giance to his adopted country, and carefully preserved the 
certificate thereof as a testimonial of his fidelity to the 
American cause." 

Mr. Dromgoole retired finally from the traveling work 
about 1785. He was married to Rebecca Walton on 
the 7th of March, 1777. In 1780 Mr. Asbury, in his 
Journal, says : " Edward Dromgoole is a good preacher, 
but entangled with a family. We spoke of a plan for 
building houses in every circuit for preachers' wives, 
and the societies to supply their families with bread and 

* Letter to Wesley, in '-Arminian Magazine," 1791, p. 219. 



American Methodism. 



379 



meat, as the preachers should travel from place to place as 
when single ; for unless something of the kind be done, 
we shall have no preachers but young ones in a few years. 
They will marry and stop." 

Dromgoole was one upon whom Asbury leaned in the 
time of the threatening agitation about the sacraments. 
" Edward Dromgoole," he says, " is hearty in good old 
Methodism ; we have had great union. I hope he will 
check the spirit of some of the divisive men." As we 
have seen, when Asbury, Garrettson, and Watters went to 
the Conference in Virginia, in 1780, as the representatives 
of the Northern preachers, to see if the division, which 
seemed imminent, could be averted, Dromgoole united 
with them in behalf of unity. " The Conference," says 
Asbury, " was called. Brothers Watters, Garrettson, and 
myself stood back, and being afterward joined by Brother 
Dromgoole, we were desired to come in, and I was per- 
mitted to speak. In the afternoon we met. The preach- 
ers appeared to be farther off. There had been, I thought, 
some talking out of doors. When we could not come to a 
conclusion with them, we withdrew and left them to de- 
liberate on the condition I offered, which was, to suspend 
the measures they had taken for one year. After an 
hour's conference we called to receive their answer, which 
was, they could not submit to the terms of union. I then 
prepared to leave the house and go to a neighbor's to lodge, 
under the heaviest cloud I ever felt in America. O what 
I felt ! JN"or I alone, but the agents on both sides. They 
wept like children, but kept their opinions." 

That was a critical, ominous day in the history of Meth- 
odism in America — the darkest day, indeed, it has ever 
seen. In that hour of which Asbury writes, the rupture 
of the infant societies by the determination of the South- 
ern preachers to continue the administration of the sacra- 
ments, seemed inevitable. Indeed, the word that sealed 
the division was already spoken. Had it not been re- 



380 



Centennial Histoey of 



called, it is somewhat doubtful whether the Methodist 
Episcopal Church would ever have been constituted. 

But Zion was not forsaken. In the darkness and the 
peril the divine word was fulfilled : " God is in the midst 
of her ; she shall not be moved : God shall help her, and 
that right early." The next day Asbury says : " I re- 
turned to take leave of Conference, and to go immedi- 
ately to the North ; but found they were brought to an 
agreement while I had been praying as with a broken 
heart. Brothers Watters and Garrettson had been pray- 
ing up stairs where the Conference sat. We heard what 
they had to say. Surely the hand of God has been greatly 
seen in all this."- Thus in its uttermost extremity Amer- 
ican Methodism was rescued from threatened dismember- 
ment, while its leaders, like the patriarch, wrestled with 
God and prevailed. The Church of Asbury and Drom- 
goole has ever triumphed through prayer. 

The labors of Mr. Dromgoole in that critical time, in 
behalf of peace and union, were earnest, and, no doubt, 
effective. A Southern man, he was, probably, an instru- 
ment through whom the Southern preachers were led to 
yield, and thus the cause escaped what seemed a certain ca- 
lamity. In less than five years afterward we see him in 
the historical Conference at Baltimore, assisting in found- 
ing the Church which, had his influence been exerted in 
an opposite direction in the perilous juncture in 1780, 
might never have been erected. 

In the Christmas Conference Mr. Dromgoole was, by 
his age, character, and services, conspicuous. Except 
"Watters, he had been longer in the itinerant service than 
any preacher in that Conference who was raised up in 
America. He had been more than ten years in the min- 
isterial ranks, and was a witness of the struggles of the 

*The agreement was to suspend the use of the sacraments for a time, 
and write to Mr. Wesley. John Diekins was to draw up the statement of 
the case which was to be sent to the founder of Methodism. 



American Methodism. 



381 



Wesleyan cause in this country in its most critical period. 
He was at that time thirty-three years old, of mature ex- 
perience, capable and reliable. 

Dromgoole's name appears for the last time in the 
Minutes in 1785, when he was appointed to Brunswick 
Circuit. He located in Brunswick County, Virginia, 
where he spent almost half a century of his life. We get 
a glimpse of him as a laborer in the wonderful revival that 
swept over that region in 1787. He continued to labor, 
respected and beloved, to the end. Dr. Coke makes hon- 
orable mention of him in his Journal of 1796. He says : 
" Brother Dromgoole was one of the first of the native 
traveling preachers in America, and has always preserved 
a most unblemished character, and is a man of considerable 
abilities ; though his (I believe, erroneous) views of things 
led him to give up the important and extensive itinerant 
plan for a much smaller sphere of action in the vineyard 
of the Lord." * 

Mr. Dromgoole was a man of marked excellence. He 
" possessed a high order of intellect ; he was plain in his 
dress, gentle and unassuming in his deportment, of deep 
piety, and of great moral worth. He was, for piety, zeal, 
and usefulness, the embodiment of a primitive Methodist 
preacher." He had originality of mind, and was not ac- 
customed to repeat his sermons. His preaching was per- 
tinent, eloquent, effective. A sermon he preached at a 
camp-meeting in North Carolina produced a powerful 
effect, and is described by the Rev. B. Devaney, who says : 
" He commenced by saying, 6 That the attention of the 
people may not be drawn off by inquiring who the 
preacher is, I will tell you. You recollect that about 
thirty years ago there was a young man who traveled 
here by the name of Edward Dromgoole ; I am the man.' 
His text was, ' God hath spoken once, twice have I heard 
this, that power belongeth unto God.' The power of God 

* "Arminian Magazine," 1798, p. 401. 



382 



Centennial History of 



was his theme, and when, by the force of his Irish elo- 
quence, he carried us in imagination to the place ' where 
their worm dieth not, and j;he fire is not quenched,' it was 
awfully sublime ; it was beyond description. His voice, 
his countenance, and his gestures, all gave a power to his 
eloquence which is rarely equaled even at this day. The 
copious flow of tears, and the awful peals of his voice, 
showed that the preacher's whole soul was thrown into the 
subject, and it produced the most thrilling effect that I 
had ever witnessed. There was not a dry eye among the 
hundreds who listened to him on that occasion." * 

He retained his power as a preacher to old age. In the 
summer of 1831 he preached at a camp-meeting in Vir- 
ginia. Ira A. Easter, son of the celebrated Rev. John 
Easter, in writing of that meeting, says : " There was 
nothing that more sensibly affected my own mind, or ap- 
peared more generally to interest the large audience that 
attended, than the powerfully evangelical preaching of 
our aged father in the ministry, the Rev. Edward Drom- 
goole, now in the eighty-first year of his age, his heart 
still glowing with the love of God, and his tongue dwell- 
ing with rapture all divine on Jesus Christ, as the ~Way, 
the Truth, and the Life to perishing sinners. Take him 
all in all, I shall never see his like again." f 

Mr. Dromgoole, says his grandson, " was much esteemed 
by his entire neighborhood. On account of his age and 
Christian virtues, he was universally recognized as one 
among the patriarchal fathers." The Rev. B. Devaney 
says of him : " In my long experience and close observa- 
tion I have never known a local preacher who maintained 
so noble a stand and wielded so wide a moral influence." 
He died, leaving quite an estate. " His last will and 
testament shows method, justice, charity, business, grati- 
tude, wisdom, and strong affection for the numerous de- 

* Bennett's "Methodism in Virginia."' 

f Methodist Protestant," September 2, 1831. 



American Methodism. 



383 



scendants who partook of his blood and name. He se- 
lected the text from which he desired his funeral sermon 
to be preached. It was : ' Lord, now lettest thou thy servant 
depart in peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have 
seen thy salvation.' " * 

Mr. Dromgoole has been represented as having in his 
old age become connected with the Methodist Protestant 
Church. Of this his grandson writes: "During the ex- 
cited controversy in the Church which gave rise to the 
Methodist Protestant organization, he appears to have 
taken no part. lie retained his connection with the Epis- 
copal Methodists." In May, 1835, he, from the bosom of 
the Church he helped to organize fifty years before, as- 
cended to the Church triumphant. 

IRA ELLIS. 

Mr. Ellis was born in Sussex County, Virginia, Sep- 
tember 25, 1761. He was converted in his nineteenth 
year. Before he was twenty years old he left his father's 
house and spent some time with Le Koy Cole, on Mr. 
Cole's circuit. At the age of twenty Ellis was sent as a 
traveling preacher to Mecklenburg Circuit. He labored 
in Philadelphia, in Charleston, and elsewhere, besides trav- 
eling districts as presiding elder. He succeeded James 
O'Kelly on the South District of Virginia, in 1792, when 
that minister withdrew from the Church. William M'Ken- 
dree, who was one of the party of O'Kelly, but who re- 
turned to the itinerant work, was then a preacher in this 
district, and he says : " Ira Ellis, my presiding elder, was 
a comfort to me. From him I obtained information and 
counsel which were of inestimable value to me in my 
dilemma. It is my opinion that the Church is much in- 
debted to Infinite Goodness for a man of his wisdom and 
prudence at that day." 

* Manuscript Sketch by E. Dromgoole, Esq., Brunswick Co., Ya. 



381 



Centennial History of 



Mr. Ellis and M'Kendree remained friends. In 1827 
the latter received a letter from his early presiding elder, 
in which Ellis displays his ardent devotion to the Church. 
"I have," he says, "been begging, by subscription, 
money to build a Methodist meeting-house, but have 
at times been ready to give it up, but have at length de- 
termined to build. Myself and son have undertaken it, 
and are bound to make good any deficiency. Of his ex- 
perience, he says : " My decaying tabernacle will shortly 
fall. O may I be found ready ! In the midst of all, my 
dull heart is too backward, and 1 am too slow to believe 
and realize the precious promises. I still feel like trying 
to get safe out of the world, and would not exchange my 
hopes and prospects for a world." 

Mr. Ellis married Mrs. Mary Mason, widow of the Eev. 
John Mason, March 12, 1795. As was the rule with mar- 
ried preachers, he located. The loss of such a man to the 
itinerancy was a calamity. Bishops Asbury and What- 
coat spoke of him as " one that traveled fourteen years 
extensively, faithfully, and acceptably." Of him Bishop 
Asbury wrote: "Ira Ellis is a man of quick and solid 
parts. I have often thought that had fortune given him 
the same advantages of education, he would have dis- 
played abilities not inferior to a Jefferson or a Madison. 
But he has in an eminent degree something better than 
learning — he has undissembled sincerity, great modesty, 
deep fidelity, great ingenuity, and uncommon power of 
reasoning. His English schooling has been good. He is 
a good man, of most even temper, whom I never saw 
angry, but often in heaviness through manifold tempta- 
tions. He is a good preacher, too. O may he finish his 
life as he hath continued it, faithful and acceptable and 
successful in the traveling and local hue ! " In view of the 
fact that Asbury seldom wrote commendatory words of 
living men, this is a remerkable tribute. 

In 1829 Mr. Ellis removed to Kentucky. He there 



American Methodism. 



385 



labored in a local sphere, as he had done for nearly thirty 
years previously in Virginia. He preached his last ser- 
mon on the day he was seventy-five years old in Hop- 
kinsville, Kentucky. Seven months before his death pa- 
ralysis smote him, and his mind was considerably impaired. 
He died, January 16, 1841, at the residence of his son, 
A. M. Ellis, in Christian County, Kentucky, in the eightieth 
year of his age. 

A writer in the " Western Christian Advocate," April 
9, 1841, says: "Ira Ellis is no more — a name renowned 
among Methodist preachers of an early day. The genera- 
tion who heard the popular, eloquent, evangelical, and 
logical sermons of Ira Ellis more than half a century ago, 
has long since preceded him to that bourn from which 
no traveler returns. He married, and retired, withdraw- 
ing himself from public view, as if alarmed at his own 
popularity, in 1795." 

A local historian says of him : " Mr. Ellis became an 
itinerant preacher when there were only fifty-four preach- 
ers and ten thousand five hundred and thirty-nine Meth- 
odists in America. He brought into the ministry talents 
of a high order, a constitution unimpaired, a spotless life, 
and a zeal that courted sacrifices, privation, and toil. His 
labors were abundant, and his fidelity to the Church was 
never challenged. He bore the ensign of the Cross over 
hill and vale, into the crowded city, and to the mountain's 
crest, amid pestilence, disease, and death, and never for a 
moment furled the banner which he held in his grasp. 
Under his ministry hundreds were awakened and turned 
to God." * 

REUBEN ELLIS. 

Mr. Ellis was a native of North Carolina. His name 
first appears in the Minutes in 1777, when he was ap- 
pointed as a colleague of Dromgoole to Amelia Circuit, 

* RedforcTs '• Methodism in Kentucky," vol. iii. 

17 



3S6 



Centennial History of 



Virginia. He was one of the early leaders of the Church. 
"When he died the Minutes said of him : " It is a doubt 
whether there be one left in all the Connection higher, 
if equal, in standing, piety, and usefulnesss." He gave 
his life unselfishly to the work of God and Methodism. 
He only wanted, the privilege of preaching the Gospel. 
" In twenty years of labor, to our knowledge," say the 
Minutes, " he never laid up twenty pounds by preaching." 
They also say : ''He, like a Fletcher, lived as on the verge 
of eternity, enjoying much of the presence of God. He 
was always ready to fill any station to which he was ap- 
pointed, although he might go through the fire of temp- 
tation and waters of affliction. The people of South 
Carolina well knew his excellent work as a Christian and 
a minister of Christ." 

Mr. Ellis was of large stature, but of slender constitu- 
tion. He was a safe guide, a true and generous friend. 
As a preacher, he was " weighty and powerful." His la- 
bors extended from Baltimore to South Carolina. Bishop 
Asbury, in his Journal, says of him: u l was somewhat 
alarmed at the sudden death of Reuben Ellis, who hath 
been in the ministry upward of twenty years; a faithful 
man of God, of slow but very solid parts. He was an 
excellent counselor, and a steady yoke-fellow in Jesus." 
The Minutes say: "His last station was Baltimore, where 
lie ended his warfare in the month of February, 1796. 
His way opened to his everlasting rest, and he closed his 
eyes to see his God." 

JOSEPH EVERETT. 

Air. Everett was born in Queen Anne County, Alary- 
land, June 17, 1732. His family were adherents of the 
Church of England. He says : " TTe went to church, and 
what did we hear, when we went, think you ? Why, a 
parcel of dead morality, and that delivered by a blind, avari- 
cious minister, sent by the devi] to deceive the people." 



American Methodism. 



387 



He was brought to repentance through the preaching of the 
Eew Lights, or Whitefieldites. " One Sabbath day," he says, 
" as I was sitting in my house, none of the family being at 
home, meditating on the things of God, I took up the Bible, 
and it providentially opened at the eleventh chapter of St. 
Luke's Gospel, and, casting my eyes on the fifth verse, 
read to the fourteenth. At that moment I saw there was 
something to be experienced in religion that I was a 
stranger to. I laid down the Bible, and went directly up 
into a private chainber to seek the blessing, And everlast- 
ing praises be to Him who has said, * Seek, and ye shall 
find.' I was on my knees but a very few moments before 
he shed abroad his love in such a manner in my heart, that 
I knew Jesus Christ was the Saviour of the world, the 
everlasting Son of the Father, and my Saviour, and that 
I had redemption in his blood, even the forgiveness of my 
sins. I felt these words by the power of his Spirit run 
through my soul, so that the tongue of a Gabriel could not 
have expressed what I felt : ' I have loved thee with an 
everlasting love ; therefore with loving-kindness have I 
drawn thee.' I felt such raptures, and saw with the eyes 
of my faith such beauties in the Lord Jesus Christ, as 
opened a heaven of love in my breast. This glorious 
change was wrought in my soul on the thirteenth of June, 
in the year of our Lord 1763." 

Everett lost his fervor and became a backslider. Thus 
for years he lived without God. He became a soldier of 
the Ee volution. " I was well satisfied," he says, " while I 
was in the army, that I was not prepared for death. Yet 
sure I am, that before I would have fled from the place 
of action or danger, without orders, I would have dropped 
dead on the spot, though my soul would have been lost 
forever." 

He heard Mr. Asbury at Judge White's and was turned 
again into the path of life. " I went forward," he says/' in 
the way pointed out in God's word, until the fifth day of 



388 



Centennial History of 



April, 1778, between seven and eight in the evening. Then 
the Lord once more set my soul at liberty, by speaking 
me freely justified, and shedding abroad his love in my 
heart by the Holy Ghost. Then I felt that the love which 
I received among the New Lights, and lost by departing 
from God, I now found among the Methodists, and could 
give them the right hand of fellowship." 

Everett soon began to recommend religion to his acquaint- 
ances, and felt moved to preach the Gospel. At length 
that charming preacher, whose ministry gave Thomas 
Ware to Methodism, Mr. Pedicord,* initiated him into the 
itinerancy. He says : " At that time Caleb B. Pedicord, 
that man of God, was riding in the circuit, and was to 
preach near Mr. White's the next day, in Delaware State ; 
and sent for me to meet him there. I was weil acquainted 
with him and went to meet him. After he had preached, 
he asked me to give an exhortation, which I did ; and be- 
fore we parted he gave me a certificate to exhort." Not 
long after, Mr. Pedicord sent for Everett to travel as his 
colleague. " The Lord," he says, " publicly owned and 
blessed my labors." 

To the service of an itinerant Methodist preacher Ever- 
ett now fully devoted himself, exclaiming : 

" In a rapture of joy my life I employ, 
The God of my life to proclaim ; 
'Tis worth living for this, to administer bliss, 
And salvation in Jesus's name. 

" My remnant of days I spend to his praise, 
Who died the whole world to redeem : 
Be they many or few, my days are his due, 
And they all are devoted to him." 

Everett was as valiant a soldier of Christ as he was brave 
in the army of freedom. He entered into the work of the 

* A pious letter of Mr. Pedicord addressed to a young lady, and published 
in the "Methodist Magazine " of 1198, reveals not only a lovely spirit, hut 
also decided mental capacity aud power of expression. 



American Methodism. 



389 



ministry with enthusiasm. He was bold and fearless in 
preaching. He prophesied not smooth things, but used 
great plainness of speech. He denounced wickedness. 
Asbury, in 1788, says: " Our Brother Everett with zeal 
and boldness cries aloud for liberty — emancipation." 

"Everett had all the elements of a powerful pioneer 
preacher. His frame was robust. He hurled the terrors 
of the Lord into the midst of Satan's strongholds with ir- 
resistible power. He moved among the churches like a 
flame of fire. He was, indeed, a mighty evangelist, full of 
faith and the Holy Ghost. He lived in the midst of re- 
vivals. His voice rang out over the hosts of Israel like 
the peal of a trumpet calling to battle. 

" Sometimes, before preaching to a largo crowd, lie 
would divest himself of his coat and cravat, and then launch 
forth in a sermon or exhortation that thrilled every heart, 
and brought sinners by scores and hundreds to their knees. 
He was ever in the front rank pressing on after the flying 
foe. Though he was almost fifty years old when he en- 
tered the itinerancy, he displayed all the ardor of youth, 
and his vigorous constitution bore him through twenty-five 
years of active service." * 

A curious incident in the history of Everett illustrates 
how providentially provision was made sometimes for the 
sustenance of the old itinerants. A lady related to the 
Rev. Henry Boehm that when she saw Mr. Everett com- 
ing to her house one day, she was glad, but was also much 
mortified because she had nothing to cook for his dinner. 
She lived on Hooper's Island, and markets were not readi- 
ly accessible. Going into the yard for some wood to make 
a fire, something fell at her feet. It proved to be a fresh 
bass weighing several pounds. On looking up she saw a 
large hawk upon the wing which had taken the fish from 
the bay, and finding it too heavy to carry had dropped 
it just where it was needed. She at once prepared it 

* Bennett's (l Memorials of Methodism in Virginia," pp. 228, 229. 



390 



Cextenxial History of 



for the table, and Mr. Everett enjoyed the meal exceed- 
ingly * 

"Worn down by years and labor Everett retired in 180-4. 
In April, 1S06, Asbury says : " I saw Joseph Everett, 
feeble but faithful, in patient waiting for his Lord." In 
1S09 he writes : " Father Everett has gone in glory to 
glory." The Minutes say: "In the same moment, his 
life, his breath, and his shouts were hushed in the silence 
of death." He died October 16, 1809. 

JONATHAN FORREST. 

Mr. Forrest was nearly thirty-one years of age when, as 
a member of the Christmas Conference, he participated in 
the work of organizing the American Methodist Church. 
It was his privilege to live almost fifty-nine years there- 
after, and to see the Church, which in that historic assem- 
bly he helped to found, increase from about fifteen thousand 
members to about a million, and from about a hundred to 
over four thousand traveling preachers. Who could have 
dreamed that a member of that Conference, then more than 
a score and ten years old, would witness, ere he closed his 
career, a result so stupendous ? Yet that wonderful reali- 
zation was permitted to Mr. Forrest. 

Jonathan Forrest was born in Anne Arundel County, 
Maryland, February 28, 1754. He had come to manhood 
when the Re volution began. He was converted under the 
labors of the early itinerants soon after Asbury came to 
the country, about the year 1772. He became a member 
of the first Methodist class formed in his county. At an 
early period he began his public labors. He first appears 
in the Minutes in 1781 as remaining on trial. He per- 
formed nearly all his ministerial work in his native State. 
After he located he lived many years near the spot where 
Strawbridge built his first church. 

*Boehrn's Reminiscences, p. 74. 



American Methodism. 



391 



Mr. Forrest was a man of God. From youth to extreme 
age he maintained a consistent Christian profession, and 
continued to labor in the pulpit to the close of his long 
life. His uniformity and temperateness of life were nota- 
ble. "Perhaps,' 5 says one who knew him long and well, 
" few Christians possessed a more constant and unshaken 
confidence in God. Hence the cheerful flow of spirits he 
commonly enjoyed." 

He did his share of hard work in the itinerancy, and 
enjoyed his full share of success. He was a revival 
preacher, and was eminently effective in leading sinners 
to God. At the Philadelphia Conference, in 1791, William 
Colbert speaks of hearing Ezekiel Cooper preach one night, 
and adds : " Jonathan Forrest gave an exhortation after 
him. He spoke with life and power." 

The Rev. Dr. J. T. Ward, President of Western Mary- 
land College, who became acquainted with Mr. Forrest in 
1841, about two years previous to his death, says : " He 
seemed, notwithstanding his great age, to be in full posses- 
sion of all his faculties, except that his hearing had some- 
what failed him. He talked very freely of his long expe- 
rience in the ministry, and said : i You young preachers of 
to-day know little about hard work. When I was a young 
man it took three months to get around the circuit, and we 
had very few rest days. We preached almost daily dur- 
ing most of the year, and much of the time in private 
houses, barns, etc. We had some rough scenes to pass 
through, but many a happy time for all that. It was quite 
common in my early ministry to hear responses from the 
congregation, "Amen !" and "That's God's truth;" or, on 
the part of the wicked, " That's a lie ! " even sometimes 
accompanying the remark with an oath,' " 

Mr. Forrest, like Garrettson and others, suffered persecu- 
tion in the ministry. The Eev. Ezekiel Cooper says : " In 
the city of Annapolis, the capital of the State, Jonathan 
Forrest, William Wren, and, I believe, at different times 



392 



Centennial History of 



two or three others, were committed to jail." * After all 
his sufferings and toils Forrest, at the sunset of his life, 
said : " I have done what I could, but it was nothing — 
nothing." 

Mr. Forrest was eminently orthodox and scriptural as a 
theologian and preacher. He would advance no doctrine 
without supporting it with Scripture. " His sermons con- 
sisted chiefly of Scripture quotations, of which he had the 
most perfect command of any man I ever knew. Herein 
lay his great strength. He laid no claim to excellency of 
speech, or the wisdom of man. but was, in the proper sense 
of the word, an able minister of the Xew Testament." f 
The Rev. Dr. Ward says that less than two years before 
his death " Father Forrest preached during our protracted 
meeting at Uniontown. The sermon was full of Scripture 
quotations. It occupied about half an hour, and produced 
a powerful effect." 

Mr. Forrest retired finally from the itinerant service in 
1S05. He, however, continued to labor. His diligence and 
punctuality in preaching after he ceased to travel were 
marked. His appointments, says Mr. Henkel " were always 
ahead, for he reserved to himself but a small number of his 
Sabbaths to attend the ministry of his brethren. If he 
failed at any time, it was because of something more than 
light inclemency of weather, or slight indisposition of per- 
son." Dr. Ward says : " It was reported, I presume upon 
good authority, that the dear old servant of God had 
preached ten miles distant from his home the Lord's day 
before he died. It was such a statement as I could well 
believe from what I knew of his persevering fidelity to 
his blaster's cause." 

TThen the controversy concerning the admission of the 
laity to the governing councils of the Church became rife, 
Mr. Forrest took the side of the Reformers. About 1S2S 

* Cooper on Asbury, p. 86. 

f The Eev. Eli Henkle, in the "Methodist Protestant." 



American Methodism. 



393 



or 1S29 he withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal Church 
and united with the Methodist Protestant Church, in whose 
fellowship he died. 

The end of this saintly veteran is described by the Rev. 
E. Henkel : " It seems that soon after his return from one 
of his Sabbath appointments he was assailed by a most 
painful complaint, which bade defiance to the physician 
who attended him. His sufferings were endured with be- 
coming Christian fortitude and resignation to the divine 
will, particularly toward the last. I had the pleasure of 
seeing him twice in his illness, and inquired each time into 
the state of his mind and prospects of future bliss, to which 
his answers were entirely satisfactory. He had no doubts, 
no fears. His way was clear, and his prospects bright. 
His speech had so failed him at my last interview, the day 
before he died, that he could only whisper, yet his language 
was the same as before. All was well. While sitting in 
his chair he fell asleep in Jesus." His death occurred 
October 12, 1843. 

FREEBORN GARRETTSON*. 

Mr. Garrettson was born in Maryland, June 15, 1752. 
During his youth he had religious impressions, "and 
frequently read, prayed, and wept." Francis Asbury's 
preaching moved him. He says : " I went to hear him 
one evening. The place was crowded. He had not 
preached long before I sensibly felt the word, and his doc- 
trine seemed as salve to a festering wound. I heard him 
with delight and, bathed in tears, could have remained there 
till the rising of the sun, the time passed so sweetly away. 
I was greatly astonished to find a person go on so fluently 
without his sermon before him. I returned home with 
gladness, fully persuaded that he was a servant of God, and 
that he preached in a way I had not heard before. I fol- 
lowed him to another preaching place, and, fixing my at- 
tentive eye upon him, I found him to be a workman that 
17* 



394 



Centennial History of 



need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word. He be- 
gan to wind about me in such a manner that T found my 
sins in clusters, as it were, around me, and the law in its 
purity probing to the very bottom and discovering the de- 
fects of my heart. I was ready to cry out, ' How does this 
stranger know me so well ! ' After the sermon was ended 
I wished not to speak to any one, but returned home with 
my mind very solemnly affected." 

Garrettson continued to hear the Methodist preachers 
occasionally, and in June, 1775, he submitted to God in 
Christ, and henceforth was a devoted follower of the Lamb. 
Awhile after his conversion he fell into despondency. The 
face of his Lord was concealed. His soul was in darkness. 
" I fasted and prayed," he says, " till I was almost reduced 
to a skeleton ; but did not open my mouth to any one. 
I was sinking into desperation." As he was conducting 
family worship on a Sunday morning his mind was power- 
fully impressed that he ought to liberate his slaves. " It is 
not right for you to keep your fellow-creatures in bond- 
age ; you must let the oppressed go free," was suggested 
forcibly. He says : " I knew it to be that same blessed 
voice which had spoken to me before. Till then I had 
never suspected that the practice of slave-keeping was 
wrong ; I had not read a book on the subject nor been told 
so by any. I paused a minute, and then replied : ' Lord, 
the oppressed shall go free.' And I was as clear of them 
in my mind as if I had never owned one. I told them 
they did not belong to me, and that I did not desire their 
services without compensation. I was now at liberty to 
proceed in worship. After singing I kneeled to pray. 
Had I the tongue of an angel I could not fully describe 
what I felt. All my dejection and that melancholy gloom 
which preyed upon me vanished in a moment. A divine 
sweetness ran through my whole frame. O, in what a won- 
derful manner was my poor soul let into the depths of my 
Redeemer's love ! 



AiiEEicAX Methodism. 



395 



" In the forenoon I attended church ; * but I could not 
find what I wanted. In the afternoon I went to hear the 
Methodists, and something told me, 'These are the people.' 
I was so happy in time of preaching that I could conceal it 
no longer. So I determined to choose God's people for 
my people, and returned home rejoicing." 

Garrettson now began to visit his friends and neighbors 
to converse with them about religion and pray with them. 
Soon his lips were opened in public exhortation. He was 
zealous and affectionate, full of tenderness and kindness, 
even in the midst of opposition and severe provocation. 
His efforts to save others were successful. He says: 
" With many tears I testified of the goodness of God ; 
appointed evening meetings in my own and in other pri- 
vate houses. Under my first public discourse several were 
awakened, and the second time I opened my mouth to 
speak at one of my evening meetings about twenty poor 
sinners were cut to the heart, and some fell to the floor and 
cried for mercy. The power of the Lord was manifested, 
and he soon gave me a happy society in that place." 

Of course such a convert was soon in the itinerancy. 
''In May, 1776," he says, "a Conference was to be held 
in Baltimore. With humble resignation to what I believed 
to be the will of God I repaired to the place, made an 
offering of myself and of my services to the itinerant cause, 
passed through an examination before the little Conference, 
was accepted, received a license from Mr. Kankin, and was 
sent out on the Frederick Circuit." 

Freeborn Garrettson was one of the most effective itin- 
erants of his time. The secret of his success was his fidelity 
to his trust and the unction that lie bore. It is of him, no 
doubt, that Asbury speaks in 1779, when he says : " Brother 

G n exhorted long ; his speaking is mostly proposing 

cases of conscience and answering them, and speaking 
about Christ, heaven, and hell ; yet this carries all before 

* Garrettson was reared under the influence of the English Church. 



390 



Centennial History of 



it. It is incredible the good he has been instrumental in 
doing. The people are generally moved under his preach- 
ing." Again, in 1TS0, Asbury said : " Freeborn Garrettson 
spoke in his usual plainness as to matter and manner, but 
it moved the people greatly." 

Garrettson was earnestly in pursuit of souls. Mr. Asbury 
traveled with him to Virginia in 1780, when the effort was 
made successfully to arrest the division occasioned by the 
difference concerning the sacraments. Asbury says : " Set 
out in company with Brother Garrettson. Rode near forty 
miles. Lodged at Garratt's tavern, where we were well 
entertained. Brother Garrettson talked to the landlord on 
the subject of religion, and prayed with him at night and 
in the morning, though he would not consent to call his 
family together. Brother Garrettson will let no one es- 
cape a religious lecture that comes in his way. Sure he 
is faithful ; but what am I?" 

Dr. Coke met Garrettson on his arrival, in the fall of 
1784, at Dover, Delaware. Coke says: "Here I met 
with an excellent young man, Freeborn Garrettson. It 
was this young man who joined himself to Mr. Asbury 
during the dreadful dispute concerning the ordinances and 
bore down all before him. He seems to be all meekness 
and love and yet all activity. He makes me quite ashamed, 
for he invariably rises at four o'clock in the morning, and 
not only he, but several other of the preachers ; and now 
blushing, I brought back my alarm to four o'clock." * 

Garrettson suffered persecution for the sake of the 
Gospel. " The Methodists," he says, " were a small and 
despised people, and the wicked, as a pretext for their base 
conduct, falsely branded them with the name of Tories. I 
was pursued by the wicked, knocked down, and left almost 
dead on the highway ; my face scarred and bleeding. This 
was humiliating to me, but it was loud preaching to the 
people. I did not court persecution, but I gloried in the 

* Coke's Journal in American " Arminian Magazine," 



American- Methodism. 



397 



Cross of Christ my Lord. They imprisoned me in Cam- 
bridge, but after detaining me about sixteen days they 
willingly released me, for I suppose my imprisonment was 
the means of my doing more good in those few days than 
I otherwise should have done in treble the time." 

Not only did he encounter cruel people, but ignorant as 
well. He says of a place in Maryland : " I suppose the 
people in this part of the country had scarce heard any 
kind of preaching, and knew no more about the new birth 
than the Indians. I met a man one day, and asked him 
if he was acquainted with Jesus Christ. ' Sir,' said he, ' I 
know not where the man lives.' Lest he should have mis- 
understood me, I repeated it again — and he answered, ' 1 
know not the man.' " 

Garrettson was sent abroad to summon the preachers 
to the Christmas Conference. From that Conference, as 
we have seen, he went as a missionary to Nova Scotia. 
The nature and results of his work there are indicated 
by the following sketch, written in 1S40, by the Eev. 
Elbert Osborn : " I have just been to pay a short religious 
visit to a Christian pilgrim more than three-score and ten 
years old. With great pleasure I listened to a very short 
account of the dealings of God with her soul. More than 
fifty years since God sent his servant, Freeborn Garrettson, 
to preach Jesus in Nova Scotia. At that time the aged 
pilgrim I have just visited resided in Shelburne, Nova Scotia. 
Passing along the street one day she saw a man standing 
on a rock with a company of people around him. Curiosity 
led her to draw near, and she heard Mr. Garrettson preach 
from these words, c Upon this rock I will build my Church.' 
By the blessing of God upon that sermon she was awakened 
to a sense of her lost condition, and after being under con- 
viction about two years, she was brought into the enjoy- 
ment of the love of God in a class-meeting, while a Meth- 
odist missionary from England was praying for her. 

" By the providence of God her residence was removed 



398 



Centennial History of 



from Sheiburne to Connecticut, where she and her pious 
husband for many years entertained the Methodist preach- 
ers. During about twenty years their house was a place 
where these men of God preached. i Have you ever been 
weary of serving the Lord ? ' I asked. i O no,' said she, 
c it seems to grow better and better.' How encouraging 
to rind the fruit of the labors of a father in the Gospel 
still remaining while his happy spirit is rejoicing before 
the throne." * 

When Garrettson returned from Nova Scotia he was 
sent, in 1787, to preside over a district in the Peninsula. 
After about a year Asbury directed him to go to Boston, 
to plant the new Church in the Pilgrims' land. He got 
as far as New York. There the necessities of the work 
detained him until Conference. " Conference com- 
menced," he says. " Many petitions for preachers were 
sent in from new places, and it pleased the Lord to thrust 
out an unusual number of young men in the New York 
Conference, more than we had regular places for, and our 
venerable Father Asbury requested me to take charge of 
them, and to do the best I could. . I was very uneasy in 
my mind, being unacquainted with the country and an en- 
tire stranger to its inhabitants, there being no Methodists 
higher than Westchester. I gave myself to earnest prayer 
for direction. I know that the Lord was with me. In 
the night season, in a dream, it seemed as if the whole 
country up the North River as far as Lake Champlain, 
east and west, was open to my view. 

" After the Conference rose I requested the young men 
to meet me. Light seemed so reflected on my path that I 
gave them directions where to begin and which way to 
form their circuits. I also appointed the time for each 
quarterly meeting, requested them to make a collection at 
every place where they preached, and told them that I 
should go up the North River to the extreme parts of the 

* " Christian Advocate and Journal." March 20 ; 1S-10. 



American Methodism. 



399 



work, visiting the towns and cities on my way ; and on my 
return I should visit them all and hold their quarterly 
meetings. I felt no doubt that the Lord would do won- 
ders, for the young men were pious, zealous, and laborious. 

" Accordingly, on my return, I found my expectation 
fully answered. The Lord was with them, and began a 
good work in every place. Their little salaries were nearly 
made up the first quarter, and before winter they all had 
comfortable circuits. One circumstance I shall not soon 
forget. As I passed down a gentleman overtook me, and, 
after the usual salutation, asked me if I had heard the news. 
* I understand,' said he, i that the king of England has sent 
over to this country a great many ministers to disafrect the 
people. He intends to bring on another war. I fear it is 
too true, for as I have come down from Lake Champlain 
I hear of them every-where, preaching night and day, and 
I hear they have many followers.' I told him that I could 
explain that subject to him ; that I was one of the men. 
After some conversation he seemed satisfied and much af- 
fected. We mingled many tears with our precious seed 
in the formation of the Xew York Conference. I may say 
we labored faithfully night and day, and, blessed be God ! 
we saw the rising glory of the Church." * 

A Methodist historian states that the first year of Gar- 
rettson's work in this new field resulted in the formation 
of six circuits, extending from New Rochelle to Lake 
Champlain. " One of his nine young men was Darius 
Dunham, a name afterward celebrated in Canada." f 

Dr. Coke mentions the success of Mr. Garrettson in this 
important enterprise. The doctor says, in his Journal, in 
1789 : " On the 28th [of May] we opened our Conference in 
New York for that State, a Conference like the others, all 
peace and concord. Glory, glory be to God ! In this city 
we have a great revival and a great increase, in consequence 

* Crarrettsoifs Semi -Centennial Sermon. 

\ li C ;se and His Contemporaries,'' by John Carroll, vol. i, p. 6. 



400 



Cextexxial IIistoey of 



of which we are going to build a second clrarch.* In the 
country parts of this State "Freeborn Garrettson, one of our 
presiding eiders, has been greatly blessed, and is endued 
with an uncommon talent for opening new places. With 
a set of inexperienced but zealous youths he has not only 
carried our work in this State as high as Lake Champlain, 
but has raised congregations in most of the States of New 
England, and also in the little State of Vermont, within 
about a hundred miles of Montreal. The members in the 
S tate of Xew York are 2,004 ; the increase, 900. The whole 
number in the United States is 43,265 ; the whole increase, 
6,114, which is very great considering that not more than 
eight months have elapsed since the last Conference. Of 
the above number, 35,021 are whites, 8,241 are blacks, and 
three are Indians." f 

Mr. Garrettson attended the first General Conference 
which convened after the organization of the Church. In 
that Conference he stood with O'Kelly and other leaders 
of the denomination in the advocacy of such a restriction 
of the power of the Bishop as was contended for in that 
memorable controversy. He, however, was loyal to the 
Clrarch, and bowed submissively to the decision of the 
majority. 

Mr. Garrettson married the daughter of Judge Liv- 
ingston, a lady of prominent social position, June 30, 
1793. Dr. Bangs says she was " every way qualified to be 
to him 1 a helpmeet indeed,' and whose pious efforts to 
promote the Redeemer's kingdom were ever after, during 
his life, affectionately united with those of her devoted 
husband." In relation to this change in his state, Garrett- 
son said: "Lord, we are thine! Thou hast united our 
spirits to thyself and to each other. Do with us as seem- 
eth thee good, only let us be wholly thine. Let us live 

* This was at the close of the ministerial work of John Dickins in the 
city of Xevr York. 

f Coke's "Journals," London, 1793. pp. 113, 114. 



American Methodism. 



401 



to thy glory, and grant that onr union may be for the fur- 
therance of each other in the way to the kingdom of 
heaven." 

At Rhinebeck, on the Hudson, a family mansion was 
established in which piety and hospitality shone forth. 
The Garrettson homestead became widely known. It was 
" dedicated to God from its foundation," and the pious of 
all denominations enjoyed its Christian fellowship and gen- 
erous welcome. Mr. Garrettson continued still to toil in 
the vineyard. 

After filling a large place in American Methodism, and 
contributing, perhaps, as much as any of the fathers of 
the young Church to its power and its progress, save 
Asbury, this devoted servant of God and of mankind, 
in the fullness of years, came to the end. His daughter 
wrote of the closing scene : " His sufferings at times were 
unutterable ; but through them all were manifested a resig- 
nation and fortitude which, no agony could destroy. ' I 
shall be purified as by fire ; I shall be made perfect 
through sufferings ; it is all right, all right ; not a pain too 
much,' he would often say. Toward the last his strength 
was so much exhausted that articulation became a painful 
effort ; but he would often, in a feeble voice, say : ' I want 
to go home ; I want to be with Jesus ; I want to be with 
Jesus.' He said, a short time before his death : ' I feel the 
perfect love of God in my soul.' A day or two before his 
departure I heard him say : ' And I shall see Mr. Wesley, 
too.' * 

" He had resigned his wife and daughter into the hand of 
God, and so great was his desire to depart and be with 
Christ, that parting with us was disarmed of its bitterness. 
His last sentence, spoken even in death, was : 6 Holy, holy, 
holy, Lord God Almighty! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!' 
After that, though he lingered many hours, he could not 

* Mr. Garrettson enjoyed Mr. Wesley's confidence, and corresponded with 
him. 



402 



Centennial Histoky of 



speak articulately. Once only, clasping his hands and 
raising his eyes to heaven, he uttered, 1 Glory ! glory ! 5 " 
Tims Freeborn Garrettson, on the 26th day of September, 
1S27, passed into the heavens. 

WILLIAM GILL. 

Mr. Gill was one of the ablest representatives of Meth- 
odism in America. He possessed such mental attributes 
as made him conspicuous in the young Church. He was 
a native of Delaware. He joined the itinerancy in 
the stirring days of the Revolution. He was one of the 
number who were promoted to the order of elder at the 
Christmas Conference. His character and standing in the 
ministry are abundantly attested by his fellow-laborers. 
Freeborn Garrettson says : " William Gill was a man of 
remarkably strong mind, and although called from the 
tailor's board, before he had traveled eight years he might 
be accounted a learned man. Especially had he improved 
himself in theology and philosophy. He entered the trav- 
eling connection in 1777. He was great in prayer. His 
petitions seemed to wing their way to heaven. In his ser- 
mons he was deep and spiritual ; and had he possessed the 
voice and utterance of some men, his celebrity would have 
been great. He was about the middle size, paid very little 
attention to his dress, and at first sight was rather diminu- 
tive in his appearance. His good sense, usefulness, and 
piety called for great respect from those who knew him. 
He displayed so much wisdom and such a profusion of ex- 
cellent matter in his discourses as greatly surprised those 
who liad judged of him merely from personal appear- 
ance." * 

Jesse Lee gave the following tribute to his fallen com- 
rade : '* From the long acquaintance I had with Mr. Gill, 
and knowing his public and private worth, I am led to con- 

* Semi-Centennial Sermon. 



American Methodism. 



403 



elude that we had scarcely a preacher left among us to 
equal the deceased, either in knowledge or in goodness. 
Indeed, I knew of no one who had such a depth of knowl- 
edge, both of men and things, as he possessed. His com- 
pany was agreeable and his conversation entertaining. His 
preaching was with wisdom and animation, and he proved 
the goodness of his doctrine by the goodness of his life." * 
Thomas Ware says of Gill : " In conversation, when an 
opportunity was enjoyed to ask questions, I have seldom, 
if ever, known his equal." Ware terms him "the phil- 
osophic Gill." He fell at his post, and fell a victor. 
"After delivering a full testimony for his Savour with 
his own fingers he closed his eyes in death, proclaiming, 
< All is well' " f 

It is said that the distinguished Dr. Rush, who was one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was an 
admirer of the intelligence and ability of Mr. Gill. Led- 
num says : " On a certain occasion he lay sick at Mr. 
Manly's, in Philadelphia, and was attended by Dr. Rush. 
The doctor became very favorably impressed, not only 
with the piety, but also with the strong and well-cultivated 
mind of his patient, which led him afterward to defend 
Methodist preachers against the charge of ignorance. 
Being in company with a number of gentlemen who were 
uttering their philippics against the reputed enthusiasm of 
the Methodists and the ignorance of their teachers, preach- 
ing without a regular education, the doctor replied, with 
this parody : < I say unto you, gentlemen, that except ye 
become even as a tailor, ye shall not enter the kingdom of 
science.' " 

The Rev. David Dailey says of Gill : " The Methodist 
Connection had few to equal him ; and it is said that the 
late Dr. Rush used to call him the greatest divine he ever 
heard. But though he did not live unseen nor die unla- 

* " Lee's " History of the Methodists." 
f Lednum's "Rise of Methodism." 



4:04: 



Centennial History of 



merited, there is not a stone to tell where he lies. In a 
solitary place, beside that of John Smith, equally neglected, 
is the grave of William Gill. It was pointed ont to me a 
few years ago by the Rev. Thomas Smith." * Gill's grave 
is near Chestertown, Maryland. 

WILLIAM GLEXDEXNOTG-. 

Between this man and the preachers of the Christmas 
Conference whom we have already contemplated, there is a 
contrast. The Rev. Henry Boehm says : " He was a Scotch- 
man, a man of rather large stature, and had something of 
a brogue. Mr. Glendenning was remarkably eccentric, if 
not a little ' cracked.' I knew him very early, having seen 
him at my father's house and heard him preach." 

Mr. Glendenning, though a member of the Conference 
which organized the Church, was subsequently opposed to 
its polity. He was considered unsound in intellect. The 
Rev. Jesse Lee says of him : " By some means he lost 
his reason." He published his u Life " in Philadelphia, 
in 1795, in which, among other things, he says : " I stopped 
traveling in the month of June, 1785." He also says : 
"When I would be in the fields I would for hours to- 
gether be blaspheming in the most horrid manner." Lee 
says Glendenning " wrote to the General Conference in 
1792, wishing to be united with us. The Conference be- 
lieved him to be beside himself at that time, and would 
not receive him." 

We get a final view of Mr. Glendenning from Mr. Boehm, 
who says that at a Conference at Raleigh, in February, 
1811, " for three nights Bishop Asbury, Thomas L. Doug- 
lass, and myself lodged with our aged friend, Rev. William 
Glendenning, who came and insisted that we should put up 
with him. He was one of our earliest preachers, having 
been received at the Conference held in 1776, when there 

*Dailey's 1: Memoir of the Rev. Thomas Smith," 1848. 



American Methodism. 



405 



were only nineteen Methodist preachers in America. This 
made him to me an object of great interest. His first ap- 
pointment was Brunswick, Virginia, with George Shad- 
ford, Edward Dromgoole, and Robert "Williams. He 
joined the Republican Methodists, nnder James O'Kelly, 
and preached among them ; then he became a Unitarian, 
and built a church in Releigh. We had a very pleasant 
time at his house. He attended our Conference and the 
preaching, and appeared interested in the revival scenes, 
but he would exclaim, 'I do not like the government.' 
There seemed to be a conflict in his own mind. He be- 
lieved the work to be of God, and yet he was so strongly 
prejudiced against our Church government that he could 
not see how heaven had set its seal of approbation on such 
measures. At this time he was an old man. He ended 
his days at Releigh." * 



LEMUEL GREEN. 

Lemuel Green was born in Maryland in the year 1751. 
He was converted and joined the Methodists about the 
beginning of the Revolutionary War. He was in his thir- 
tieth year when he began to preach. His name first ap- 
pears in the Minutes of the year 1783, when he was sent 
to Yadkin Circuit. 

As an itinerant, he endured a large share of privation 
and suffering. He located in 1800 and settled in Phila- 
delphia, where he continued to reside. In 1823 he was re- 
admitted to the Philadelphia Conference, but did not enter 
the regular work. In the " Life of the Rev. Freeborn Gar- 
rettson " there is a notice of a visit which Mr. Garrettson 
made to Philadelphia, in the winter of 1817-18, in which 
the following passage occurs : " He rode to Philadelphia 
and put up at Mr. Lemuel Green's, a located minister, 
who had traveled and preached until he was worn down, 

*Boehm's Reminiscences. 



406 



Cextexxial History of 



but whose Christian hospitality invited the servants of 
God under his peaceful roof." Those two itinerant he- 
roes, who sat together in the Christmas Conference thirty 
three years before, were doubtless refreshed with each 
other's society, and thrilled with the old enthusiasm, as 
they reviewed the scenes and achievements of the vanished 
days. Mr. Green was in the mercantile business in Phila- 
delphia, where he gained considerable wealth. 

Wakeley says he " was a most sterling man, and an able 
minister of the New Testament." * With Thomas Mor- 
rell and George Strabeck he was stationed in the city of 
New York in 1792. The Minutes say of Mr. Green that 
" he was a clear, sound, and useful preacher, not destitute 
of the graces of sermonizing, but more abundantly char- 
acterized by the unction and power of the Holy Spirit." 

Dr. Bangs says of him : " In 1785 we find him in the 
Alleghany Circuit, at that time a new region of country, 
but rapidly filling up with inhabitants. He continued his 
labors in various places, sometimes filling the office of pre- 
siding elder, until 1800." In the local relation he preached 
much, generally every Sabbath. " His heart and house 
were ever open to receive his brethren, and he always 
made them welcome to his hospitable table." 

Dr. Bangs says, further, that had Mr. Green " continued 
exclusively devoted to the work of the ministry, instead of 
departing from it to ' serve tables,' he, doubtless, would have 
shone much brighter, and diffused his light much more ex- 
tensively among his fellow-men. But, having become the 
head of a family, and feeling the pressure so common to 
itinerant ministers in those days, arising from the scanty 
support afforded them, he thought it his duty to ex- 
change a traveling for a located ministry. He acquired a 
competency for a season, yet he was, a few years before 
his death, reduced to poverty. His declining days were 
overcast with temporal affliction. "Whether in prosperity 

* " Lost Chapters," p. 385. 



American Methodism. 



407 



or adversity, he maintained his integrity, exemplifying the 
virtues of humility and patience in an eminent degree." * 
Mr. Green's end was that of the perfect man — peace. 
" In his last sickness his mind enjoyed heavenly compos- 
ure; and, having before honored his Saviour in the 'labor 
of love,' he now glorified him by the ' patience of hope,' 
and the triumph of faith." f 

JOHN HAGERTY. 

Mr. Hagerty was born in Prince George County, Vir- 
ginia, February 18, 1747. In childhood he had serious 
impressions. At the age of twelve years he experienced 
meltings of heart in reading the account of the sufferings 
of Jesus, and often thought that, were Christ then upon 
earth, he would forsake father and mother and follow him. 
His early compunctions and aspirations did not at once 
result, however, in a vital and established faith. 

In 1771 John King preached in the town of Hagerty 's 
residence. He heard him three times. The third sermon 
was effectual in his awakening. He resolved upon a full 
surrender to God. After some months he was happily 
converted. King again visited the town in 1772, and 
formed a society of fourteen, including Mr. Hagerty, of 
which he afterward became the leader. 

Shortly after his conversion the desire that others should 
become partakers of the same faith led him to labor in the 
vineyard. Under his second exhortation a man was 
awakened. This encouraged him, and he soon became 
engaged in more extended service. He would sometimes 
spend weeks from home in pursuit of souls. 

In 1779 Hagerty joined the itinerancy. He labored in 
Maryland and in the city of New York. His last station 
was Baltimore, in 1791 and 1792. The condition of his 

*Bangs's "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," vol. iv, p. 126. 
f Minutes for the year 1832, 



408 



Centennial History of 



wife's health rendered a location imperative, and from Bal- 
timore he retired to a local sphere. 

He did not. however, cease his labors as a preacher. 
" Few men were more cordially disposed to serve the 
Church. At any hour, night or day. he was at the service 
of the people. Distance, weather, or season was no con- 
sideration wiih him when duty called. He has been often 
known to rise from his bed at midnight and ride for miles 
into the country to visit a sick or a dying man, and that 
without fee or reward.* 

Mr. Hagerty was a successful minister. "We have seen 
how, under his preaching. Thomas Morrell was awakened ; 
and also how, in Annapolis, in 1789-90, he reveled in re- 
vival triumphs. He was an able and effective preacher. 
The year that he was stationed in Xew York, 17S5. he 
seems to have crossed the Hudson and entered New Jer- 
sey. He persuaded Thomas Morrell to join the itiner- 
ancy. At his earnest solicitation Morrell left a lucrative 
business " and commenced preaching in different places, 
his appointments being made by Mr. Hagerty." One of 
MorrelFs earliest attempts at preaching was " at the house 
of his uncle, in Chatham, Xew Jersey. Having been an 
officer in the Revolution, and for several years subse- 
quently a merchant in Elizabeth, he was widely known, 
and a very large assembly convened to hear the major 
preach. This. I think, was his third or fourth effort, and 
was by himself deemed an utter failure. He then con- 
cluded that he was not called of God to preach, and would 
not make the attempt again. Early the ensuing morning, 
while at breakfast at his uncle's, there was a knock at the 
door. A lady entered, desiring to see the preacher of the 
previous evening. In a few moments another came, and 
then an old man, upon the same errand, all of whom had 
been awakened under the sermon deemed by him a failure. 
They had come to learn the way of salvation more per- 

* Memoir, by th.e Rev. Joshua Soule. 



American Methodism. 



409 



fectly. The doctrine to them was new, they having been 
brought up under Calvinistic influences. lie, of course, 
recalled his purpose to preach no more, and was encour- 
aged to go forward. 

" About this time, such was the excitement all through 
that part of the State occasioned by Methodist preaching 
that some of the ministers became alarmed. One of them, 
advising with an elder brother in the ministry, asked : 
' What shall be done to counteract the influence they are 
exerting?' 4 We must outpreach and outpray them.' 
6 That,' rejoined the other, ' is impossible, for there is Mr. 
Hagerty. He can split a hair.' " * 

Hagerty was a " clear, pointed, and commanding preach- 
er." He had " a manly voice," and the word proclaimed 
by him " was often made the power of God to the salva- 
tion of his hearers. In looking over his manuscript 
Journal we were much pleased and edified with the fine 
vein of deep piety which runs through it, and which 
breathes the spirit of a devoted evangelist." f 

This good man finished his course September 4, 1823. 
On being told that he appeared to be near his end, he an- 
swered " Yes, and all is straight. The way is clear before 
me." "He appeared," says Mr. Soule, "to have heaven 
in full anticipation. His eyes sparkled, and his whole 
theme was thanksgiving and praise." Mr. Hagerty was 
honored by election and ordination to the office of elder 
at the Christmas Conference. 

RICHARD IYEY. 

Mr. Ivey was promoted to the eldership at the time of 
the organization of the Church. The traces of him in the 
records of the denomination are very slight. While but 
few facts illustrative of his work are recorded, enough 

* Letter of the late Rev. F. A. Morrell to the author. 

f The Rev. J. Soule: "Memoir of Hagerty," "Methodist Magazine," 1824. 
18 



410 



Centennial History of 



exist to show that he was one of the foremost men in early 
Methodism. One of the facts concerning him is that he 
spent about eighteen years in the itinerancy. Another is 
that his labors w r ere widely extended. He traveled as far 
north as E"ew Jersey, and as far south as southern 
Georgia. Still another fact is that he labored without 
adequate compensation, inasmuch as the Minutes declare 
that " exclusive of his patrimony he was indebted at his 
death." The Minutes also say : " Ivy, a man of affliction, 
lingered out his latter days, spending his all with his life, 
in the work." 

When Ivey was in 'New Jersey Thomas Ware, who was 
then a young Methodist, accompanied him to an appoint- 
ment where a company of soldiers had resolved to arrest 
the first preacher who should come to the place. Ware 
hoped that, as he was acquainted with some of the officers, 
lie would convince them that the preacher was not a 
foe of the country. Says Ware : " The preacher was Rich- 
ard Ivey, who was at that time quite young. The rumor 
of what was about to be done having gone abroad, many of 
the most respectable inhabitants of the neighborhood were 
collected at that place. Soon after the congregation were 
convened, a file of soldiers were marched into the yard and 
halted at the door. Two officers came in, drew their 
swords and crossed them on the table, and seated them- 
selves so as to look the preacher full in the face. I 
watched his eye with great anxiety and soon saw that he 
was not influenced by fear. His text was, 4 Fear not, little 
flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the 
kingdom.' When he came to enforce the exhortation 
6 Fear not,' he paused, and said, * Christians sometimes fear 
when there is no fear.' And so, he added, he presumed it 
was with some then present. Those men who were en- 
gaged in the defense of their country's rights meant them 
no harm. He spoke fluently and forcibly in commenda- 
tion of the cause of freedom from foreign and domestic 



American Methodism. 



411 



tyranny. Looking first on the swords and then in the 
faces of the officers, and opening his bosom, he said : ' Sirs, 
I would fain show you my heart. If it beats not high 
for legitimate liberty may it ever cease to beat ! ' This he 
said in such a tone of voice and with such a look as thrilled 
the whole audience. The countenances of the officers at 
first wore a contemptuous frown, then a significant smile. 
They were completely disarmed, hung down their heads, 
and before the conclusion of this masterly address shook 
like the leaves of an aspen. Many of the people sobbed 
aloud, others cried out 'Amen,' while the soldiers without 
— the doors and windows being open — swung their hats 
and shouted i Huzza for the Methodist parson ! ' On leav- 
ing, the officers shook hands with the preacher and wished 
him well, and afterward said they would share their last 
shilling witli him." 

This incident indicates that Mr. Ivey was a man of 
courage, tact, and eloquence — the kind needed for the del- 
icate and arduous work of building a new Church in the 
United States. He did not shrink from difficult duties 
nor shun in any place to declare the counsel of God. The 
Minutes say that Ivey possessed u quick and solid parts," 
and Jesse Lee says he " preached with a good degree of 
animation." 

Ivey spent several years in the eldership in the South. 
With respect to his work in that office in Georgia the his- 
torian of the denomination in that State says : " He was 
the Great Heart of his day, and he braved all the perils of 
this frontier and bore all the privations his office called for. 
His district extended from the Savannah to the Oconee, 
from the St. Mary's to the mountains. When he began 
his work there was not a single church building in his dis- 
trict. He had seen the membership of the societies quin- 
tupled. He extended his line from below Savannah to the 
borders of the Indian nation. He had only young men, 
almost without education, to rely upon to aid him. He 



412 



Centennial Histoky of 



had no mission funds, no reserve of ministerial force to 
bring up. Xever had man a more difficult task ; not often 
has man done the work better. 1 ' * 

The fact that Ivev continued so long in the itinerant 
service, in those early times, shows that he was a Chris- 
tian hero. He was a native of Sussex Comity, Virginia, 
where also he died, in the latter part of the year 1795. It 
is said that he retired to take care of his mother. 

JEREMIAH LAMBERT. 

Mr. Lambert was a native of New Jersey. The confi- 
dence of the Church in him is shown by the fact that he 
was passed to elder's orders at the Christmas Conference, 
and sent alone as a missionary to Antigua, in the \Vest 
Indies. Dr. Coke speaks of his excellence. We have seen 
how he braved the hardships and perils of the Tennessee 
frontier, as the first ALethodist preacher in that country. + 
The seed he there sowed was productive ; and since his 
day ALethodism has flourished beyond any other sect in 
Tennessee. He was "taken from the common walks of 
life. He had in four years, when the Church was organ- 
ized, without classical learning or regular theological 
training, actually attained to an eminence in the pulpit 
which no ordinary man could reach by the aid of any human 
means whatever. He was most emphatically a primitive 
Methodist preacher, preaching out of the pulpit as well as 
in it. The graces with which he was eminently adorned 
were intelligence, innocence, and love. These imparted a 
glow of eloquence to all he said and did.'" ^ 

Lambert died early, but "he yet speaketk/' In 1786 
the Aiinutes contain a fine tribute to his worth: Jeremiah 
Lambert — an elder. Six years in the work. A man of 
sound judgment, clear understanding, good gifts, genuine 

* Smith's 11 History of Methodism in Georgia and Florida."' 
f See page 128 of this volume. % Thomas Ware. 



American Methodism. 



413 



piety, and very useful, humble, and holy, diligent in life, 
and resigned in death. Much esteemed in the Connection, 
and justly lamented." 

WILLIAM PHCEBUS. 

William Phoebus was born in the month of August, 
1754, in the State of Maryland. Of his early days, or of 
the time and circumstances of his conversion, there appears 
to be no record, save that his conversion was due, under 
God, to the labors of a Methodist preacher. In 1783 he 
was admitted on trial as a traveling preacher, and ap- 
pointed to Frederick Circuit. " After this," says Dr. 
Bangs, u he traveled in various places, sometimes contending 
with the difficulties of the new settlements in Green Brier, 
and other places no less rugged and destitute, where he 
acquitted himself as a 4 good soldier of Jesus Christ,' light- 
ing the battle of the Lord, and conquering souls by the 
power of Gospel truth." After his location, Bangs says, 
he preached " generally every Sabbath with good effect." 
In 1793 he located as a physician in the city of Xew 
York. In 1S06 he re-entered the work in the New York 
Conference and was appointed to Albany. In 1S0S he 
was stationed in Charleston, South Carolina. The his- 
torian of Methodism in Charleston says, Phoebus "was a 
man of fine pulpit talents, as lie was of handsome personal 
appearance." * He returned in 1811 to the city of Xew 
York. He continued in the effective ranks until the year 
1821, when he became a supernumerary. In the fifteen 
years of his itinerancy previous to his location and em- 
ployment in another profession, Phoebus performed the 
severe labor and endured the sacrifices and privations 
which were required of all the Methodist itinerants in that 
early period. His vigorous mind found exercise in author- 
ship and editorial work in his later days. He at one time 

Mood's ''Methodism in Charleston," p. 109. 



Centennial Uistoev of 



published a magazine, and also wrote a defense of Meth- 
odist ordination and the " Memoirs of Bishop Whatcoat." 
Tlie last-named volume, while revealing no special skill 
in book-making, indicates that the writer possessed intel- 
lectual strength. Dr. Phoebus, for almost half a century, 
maintained the character of a Christian minister. 

Dr. TTakeley says : " Dr. Phoebus was a strong man ; 
a bold and independent thinker. There was much orig- 
inality about him." TTakeley also says " he was very 
eccentric." Dr. Bangs says he had acquired a large 
stock of useful information from his various studies and 
general intercourse with mankind. His style was plain 
and perspicuous, his manner solemn and impressive, and 
he evinced, on all occasions, a mind familiar with the 
Holy Scriptures and deeply devoted to his work. Hav- 
ing formed some acquaintance with the languages in which 
the Scriptures were written, he was extremely fond of de- 
ciphering the sacred text, and sifting out the exact scope 
and design of the writer.'' 

Dr. Phoebus had practical sagacity. He well under- 
stood human nature. He was skillful in administration, 
and successful in adjusting difficulties that arose from mis- 
understanding and antagonisms. 

He was a good hater of what is sometimes called sensa- 
tionalism in the pulpit. Once, on being asked how some 
preachers, without much solidity of character or mind, suc- 
ceeded in attracting so much attention, he. with a con- 
temptuous air. replied, "Pugh ! If I were to pull off my 
old boot and throw it up into the air, and cry. Hurrah ! 
Hurrah ! I should soon collect around me a more numer- 
ous crowd than any man in the city." 

He was fond of Baxter, and gathered many of his pious 
utterances in his memory, which, when occasion required, 
he would employ in defense of his theological positions, 
together with arguments derived from TTesley and Fletcher. 
He was adroit in maintaining his side of a controversy. 



American Methodism. 



415 



Phoebus, from his reading, extensive travels, and inter- 
course with men, had gained a store of anecdote with which 
he ^ave interest and instruction to his conversation. 

As a preacher, lie was highly evangelical. He gloried in 
the Cross. He set forth Christ, the Redeemer, in all his 
offices as a Saviour. Whenever he mentioned the name of 
Jesus he would gently incline his head, and if covered, lift 
the hat and use the prefix " adorable " thus, the " ador- 
able Jesus." His discourses were gemmed with the names 
of the Saviour of the world, and he proclaimed him as the 
Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and the Morn- 
ing Star, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last. 

He could scarcely be called a popular preacher, in the 
ordinary sense of that term. This, however, was the re- 
sult rather of a lack of attractiveness of manner than of 
deficiency in the quality of his matter. His sermons were 
characterized by solidity, and, says Dr. Bangs, 81 he cer- 
tainly commanded the respectful attention of the more 
weighty part of the community.'' 

In his public addresses and in conversation he would 
employ "pointed apothegms and short enigmas not easily 
comprehended by the mass, and often perplexing to the 
thoughtful. As an instance of his enigmatical manner of 
speaking the following may be mentioned : At the Con- 
ference of 1823, when addressing his brethren on the im- 
probability of his being able to serve the Church much 
longer, he remarked ' that the lease of his house had ex- 
pired, and therefore he could not tell how soon he might 
be called to remove, as he was not certain that he could 
procure a renewal of his lease for any particular length of 
time ; hence he could not pledge himself for any special v 
service in the ministry.' 

" On hearing this, an aged minister, and one by no 
means deficient in mental sagacity, said to the writer of 
this, 6 1 thought the doctor owned the house in which he 
lives ; but it seems I was under a mistake, as he says that 



410 



Centennial History of 



the time of his lease is out.' To this it was replied, c You 
do not understand him. He speaks in j^arables. Pie is 
now three-score years and ten, the common age God lias 
allotted to man, and therefore he cannot calculate on living 
much longer at most, and even that little time must he 
considered as an act of God's grace over and above what 
he usually grants to man.' This, indeed, was his meaning 
from his subsequent explanation." * 

The Minutes say : " William Phoebus was a man of 
great integrity of character, uniformly pious, deeply read 
in the Scriptures, and a sound, experimental, practical 
preacher. In his last sickness he manifested the virtues 
of a Christian in a high degree, being remarkably patient 
and submissive under his sufferings, and expressing, with 
great cheerfulness, his prospects of future blessedness." 
His death occurred in the city of New York the 9th of 
November, 1831. His brethren say : " He sweetly fell 
asleep in Jesus, in the seventy-eighth year of his age." 



IGNATIUS PIGMAK 

Mr. Pigman joined the itinerancy in 1780, and located 
in 1788 to provide for his family. It has been said that 
he was the Apollos of early Methodism. While in the 
ranks he did valuable work. Dr. Coke thus speaks of him 
when on one of his visits to this country : 

"I met," says Coke, "with Brother Ignatius Pigman, one of 
our elders, who had been a little before in Kentucky, on the 
other side of the Appalachian Mountains. In coming back 
he had a party with him, who were also on their return. 
Having some business to transact, he left his party, intend- 
ing to follow and overtake them : and imagining that they 
had proceeded before him, and knowing that they were well 
stocked with provisions, he took with him only two pounds 
of dried venison, and a proportionate quantity of biscuits. 

♦Eangs's " History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," vol. iv, pp. 131, 132. 



American Methodism. 



417 



It may be here necessary to observe that the Americans, in 
peopling the Western territory, which now forms the 
States of Kentucky and Tennessee, had passed over a great 
quantity of the wilderness, for the sake of the richer soil, 
which lay more toward the west ; so that a vast tract of for- 
est lay between the old and new settlements. The party 
before mentioned had about two hundred miles to travel 
through this wilderness, in the line they designed to take. 
Poor Mr. Pigman lost his company, who stayed behind 
longer than they at first intended, and afterward lost his 
way by taking a line which inclined too much to the left. 
Eleven days he rode and subsisted on small quantities of his 
biscuits and venison, till at last the whole was expended. 
His horse was supported by the grass in the woods, till, at 
the expiration of the eleven days, the poor creature sunk un- 
der his fatigue, and Mr. Pigman was obliged to leave him 
behind him. For five days more he traveled on foot, carry- 
ing his saddle-bags on his shoulder or his arm ; and at last, 
to his great joy, came to a plantation, where his kind hostess, 
a widow, supplied him with necessary food. By this time 
his clothes were so torn that he was hardly decent, and 
the last day his throat was so sore that he could scarcely 
swallow water. Twice he met with a wild bear. Each 
time he turned round and looked firmly at the bear ; the 
bear stopped, and soon turned away. One night, toward 
the close of his dreadful journey, he was lying down, rest- 
ing his head on his saddle-bags, which were his pillow 
all the way, and of a sudden heard a rustling noise, and 
could clearly distinguish the footsteps of a man. He had 
no doubt but he was an Indian, and being confident that 
he was not far from the cultivated country, he lay quiet 
till the noise was over, and then fell asleep. I reflected, 
What have been any of my sufferings in comparison of 
these ! " 

The oratorical gifts of Mr. Pigman must have been re- 
markable. Traditions of his eloquence were Ion?: current. 
13* 1 



418 Centennial History of 

A writer in tlie " Wesleyan Repository," in 1822, gave the 
following reminiscences of his oratory : " Ignatius Pieman, 
one of the early Methodist preachers, was a natnral, rather 
than a self-taught, orator. At one period of his life he 
became obnoxious to a considerable degree of public prej- 
udice and censure ; yet at that very time in his native place, 
surrounded by his greatest opposers, such was the power of 
his eloquence that he could work upon their feelings in a 
manner which confounded them. His surviving hearers 
to this day give him the precedence of all other speakers. 
There seems to be sufficient evidence to induce us to place 
him among the great natural orators who have appeared in 
different ages and countries. Men, women, and children, 
learned and unlearned, rich and poor, can all relate anec- 
dotes of the effect of Mr. Pigman's preaching. Pigman 
was once preaching on the commons in Baltimore, and in 
illustrating the joys of a converted penitent he introduced 
a sailor who, after a long and tempestuous voyage, de- 
scries land. A sailor, who was lying on the grass, sprang 
up and cried out in his wonted tone, ' Land ho ! ' It is 
highly probable that if the consciousness of his mighty 
energies, as is too often the case, had not allured him from 
the closet, he might have escaped all the misfortunes of 
his life, and left a record among the foremost on the rolls 
of fame." 

Thomas Ware has recorded the following tribute : " Ca- 
leb Boyer and Ignatius Pigman, who commenced traveling 
in 1780, located in 1788. These were reckoned among 
the first preachers. It is presumed that there were few in 
any age or country who could extemporize with either of 
these primitive Methodist missionaries. When Whatcoat 
and Yasey heard them, at the Christmas Conference, they 
said they had not heard their equal in the British Connec- 
tion, except Wesley and Fletcher. These men, who copied, 
with great fidelity and exactness, the example of humility 
and self-devotion set by the Apostle of the Gentiles, were 



American Methodism. 



419 



held in high estimation. It was, accordingly, a matter of 
much grief when they abandoned the itinerant ranks." 

It is understood that Mr. Pigman became a lawyer. In 
that capacity he defended the Rev. Jacob Gruber in his 
trial upon the charge of having sought to incite slaves to 
insurrection in a sermon he preached at a camp-meeting. 
Mr. Gruber was acquitted. Of Mr. Pigman's later history 
we are ignorant. 

FRAXCIS POYTHRESS. 

Of Mr. Poythress's early years little is known. He was born 
about the year 1 745. He, probably, was a native of Virginia, 
where lie was converted in his early manhood. He in- 
herited a considerable estate and became dissipated. He 
was led to repentance by the conversation and reproof of 
a lady of elevated position in society. He began to read 
the Bible and to pray in secret. He sought a religious 
guide, but, such was the character of the clergy in Vir- 
ginia at that day, he found none. He heard of the 
Rev. Deveraux Jarratt and obtained his counsel. He re- 
mained for some time with Mr. Jarratt, and at length 
obtained the forgiveness and peace he sought. He was 
moved to proclaim the Saviour he had found, and quickly 
went forth to preach. This was before he became ac- 
quainted with the Methodists. In one of his evangel- 
ical journeys he met a Methodist preacher, who furnished 
him the means of becoming acquainted with Method- 
ism. As a result, he united with the Methodists and 
joined the primitive itinerant baud. He became a Meth- 
odist preacher in 1775, under the authority of a quarterly 
meeting in Brunswick Circuit, Virginia. His name ap- 
pears in the Minutes of 1776. " Henceforth," says Dr. 
Redford, " in North Carolina, Maryland, and Kentucky, 
he was to be a representative man of the struggling cause. 
In 1783 he bore its standard across the Alleghanies to the 
waters of the Youghiogheny. From 1786 he served it 



420 



Centennial History of 



with pre-eminent success as a presiding elder. Asbnry 
nominated him for the episcopate, in a letter addressed to 
the Conference, at Wilbraham, in 1797. The preachers 
refused to comply with the request simply upon the ground 
that it was not competent in a yearly Conference to elect 
Bishops. Poythress was to the South-west what Jesse Lee 
was to New England — an apostle." 

Mr. Poythress was of about medium height and of stout 
frame. In 1788 he was appointed to superintend the work 
in Kentucky. Thenceforth, until his itinerancy ceased, he 
was a voice crying in the wilderness. To Kentucky he 
gave nearly all his remaining years. There he presided at 
the Conferences and stationed the preachers when Asbury 
was absent. He saw the importance of education, and, as 
we have seen, labored to establish the Bethel school in the 
new State. 

Asbury was a judge of men, and the work he assigned to 
Poythress, together with the fact that he desired him to 
share the labors and honors of the episcopate, shows how 
he estimated his capacity and his w T orth. It is said that 
the administrative abilities of Poythress were great. He 
had the bearing of a well-bred gentleman. He was re- 
markable for his gift in prayer, but his talents as a preacher 
were not extraordinary. 

We have seen that a cloud settled upon the life of this 
brave and devoted itinerant. For some time while he 
prosecuted his work he showed a degree of mental disturb- 
ance. The exposures and hardships of his life in the 
wilderness, in connection with a melancholy tendency of 
mind, may have destroyed his cerebral equilibrium. At 
any rate he was driven from the field by insanity, and 
"William M'Kendree, who was sent by Asbury from Vir- 
ginia to take his place, was thereby introduced to the West. 
Mr. Poythress retired from his labors about 1800. He 
died insane at the house of his sister, Mrs. Prior, about 
twelve miles from Lexington, Kentucky, in or near 1818, 



American Methodism. 



421 



NELSON REED. 

Nelson Reed was one of the heroes of the old itinerancy. 
In defiance of hardship, scarcity, and persecution, lie went 
forth as a herald of grace to the perishing. An aged man 
in western Pennsylvania, while sitting in the porch of his 
dwelling a great while ago with a minister, ashed the latter 
if he knew Nelson Reed. The answer was, " Yes." The 
old man pointed to a small house with but one diminutive 
w r indow and said: "In that house we used to put him at 
night and then guard him in order to protect him from 
the Indians, and afterward used to accompany him over 
these mountains from appointment to appointment, armed 
with our rifles. Where you are accompanied now by 
friends without fearing aught, then we were obliged to 
protect the preachers with gun from the scalping-knife of 
the savage. Where you have boat and bridge to aid you in 
crossing streams and rivers, they were compelled to make 
boat and bridge of their horses' backs, and were often 
beaten down before they reached the opposite shore." 

Nelson Reed was born in Anne Arundel County, Mary- 
land, about the middle of the eighteenth century. Dr. 
Roberts says : " He stated on the word of his father he 
believed himself to have been born November 27, 1751. 
Several circumstances go to corroborate this date as the 
true one." According to the parish register, however, his 
birth occurred November 28, 1753. 

In his childhood he removed to Virginia. His name 
first appears in the Minutes of the Conference in 1779. 
His ministry, however, began some years earlier. The late 
Dr. Roberts, of Baltimore, learned from Mr. Reed, shortly 
before his last illness, that he commenced his itinerant 
work in June, 1775, on Amelia Circuit, Virginia. 

Mr. Reed, therefore, was an early laborer in the field 
of Methodism. He was among the first of that noble 
band of sowers who went forth weeping, and bearing the 



422 



Centennial History of 



" precious seed " which, has been so wonderfully produc- 
tive in America. He sowed not only with tears, but amid 
persecution. In 1781 he traveled Calvert Circuit, in Mary- 
land. " The first round," says Dr. Roberts, " he made on 
this circuit he called at the house of a gentleman near 
Friendship, and requested permission to preach under two 
large oak-trees that stood upon his ground near the Cross 
Roads. The owner at first refused, because he feared Reed 
and his colleagues had some design upon the established 
Church. After some persuasion, however, he consented, 
and industriously circulated the notice. At the time ap- 
pointed a large assembly of people attended. While Mr. 
Reed was engaged in prayer ' some of the baser sort ' as- 
sailed him with eggs and stones. The owner of the ground 
then stood up, and, addressing the people, declared that he 
had given him permission to preach upon the ground, and 
he intended to protect him, and that if any one dared to 
molest him it would be at the expense of his life. This 
secured him the opportunity of finishing his discourse, the 
owner of the property standing beside him. He afterward 
partook of the hospitality of his new friend, and was then 
by him protected to the line of his ground. Ere they 
parted Mr. Reed gained his consent to permit him to 
preach there in four weeks, though the gentleman assured 
him it might cost him his life if he returned. The ap- 
pointment was made ; he again preached to a large con- 
course of people unmolested ; and the proprietor of the 
ground was among the first seals of his ministry." * 

Mr. Reed performed much labor as a presiding elder. 
He was one of the first who were appointed to that office 
in 1785, and he continued in the position eleven years. 
Then, in 1796, he was stationed at Fell's Point, and in 1797 
in Baltimore. In 1798 he was returned to Fell's Point. 
In 1799 he was supernumerary ; and in 1800, in conse- 

* Dr. George C. M. Roberts, on the Key. Nelson Reed, £ ' Christian Advo- 
cate and Journal," December 9, 1840. 



American Methodism. 



423 



quenee of the ill-healtli of his wife, he located. In 1S05 
he returned to the itinerancy, in which he continued until 
he retired as a supernumerary in 1819. Twenty-three 
years of his ministerial life were passed in the presiding 
eldership. 

The character of Mr. Reed was such as to command re- 
spect and confidence. His mind was of the solid . and 
practical kind. He was, says Dr. Bond, who knew him 
long and well, " a pattern of steady, consistent, personal 
piety, and of clear, sound, and eminently practical views 
of Christian doctrines. His manner was so grave as to 
wear somewhat an air of repulsiveness, until a more in- 
timate acquaintance showed that whatever was the interior 
aspect, all within was sweetened by the love of God and 
man, which was the ruling principle of his life. 

" His preaching evidenced great mental power. It was 
the power of reflection strengthened by a habit of severe 
examination of every thought previously to allowing it 
utterance. He either had no imaginative power or he* had 
kept his fancy so strictly curbed that it had been utterly 
extinguished. His preaching was characterized by great 
strength, perspicuity, and invariable soundness; but it was 
never illustrated nor adorned by even the allowed figures of 
rhetoric. It was, perhaps, owing to this that in very ad- 
vanced life and among a people to whom he had preached 
for half a century he continued as acceptable in old age as 
in early life. It was a common remark : ' There is no 
change in Father Reed.' He preaches now just as he 
always did." * 

One of his friends, the Rev. Alfred Griffith, says : " Nel- 
son Reed was of low stature, not more than five feet 
eight or nine inches high, strongly built, and uncommonly 
lithe and active in all his movements. His face very fairly 
represented his character, and on the whole he might be 
said to be a decidedly fine-looking man. 

* Editorial in the " Christian Advocate and Journal," December 9, ISiO. 



424 



Centennial History of 



"His perceptions were quick and clear, Lis judgment 
discriminating, and his ability to arrange and combine with 
the best effect very uncommon. While he could not be 
charged with any tiling like impulsiveness or impetuosity, 
he had a strength of conviction, a tenacity of purpose, that 
nothing could overawe, and that generally formed a per- 
fect security for the accomplishment of his ends. He was 
not to be bribed nor terrified — he moved forward like a 
pillar of light and of strength until by fair, well-considered, 
and honorable means, you saw that he had attained the ob- 
ject at which he was aiming. These qualities gave him a 
pre-eminence in the councils of the Church. 

" He had a strong round full voice, but not very melo- 
dious. He never dealt in metaphysical speculations, which 
a large part of his audience could not understand, neither 
did he deal in mere commonplaces, which leave no abiding 
impressions. His manner in the pulpit was not remark- 
able for animation. He was deeply versed in the science 
of theology, and from his rich stores of biblical knowledge 
he drew largely in every sermon he preached." * 

Dr. Roberts, who ministered to Mr. Reed in his last sick- 
ness, says : " At almost every visit I conversed with him as 
freely as his condition would justify in reference to his 
spiritual state and prospects. At every such interview his 
first and prompt reply was : * All is right. I have no pain 
of mind or body. My mind is kept in perfect peace.' 

"The hour of his release came. When asked if he 
thought he was dying, with great difficulty he replied : ' I 
do not know. I am in the hands of One too wise to err and 
too good to be unkind. My dependence is not on my own 
works. It is on the Rock, Christ Jesus crucified.' These 
were the last intelligible words that hung upon his dying 
lips." On the 20th of October, 1840, this hero of Meth- 
odism ascended from the precincts of Baltimore to his 
reward in heaven. 

* Sprague's "Annals of the American Pulpit." 



American Methodism. 



425 



Mr. Reed was the last survivor of the elders who were 
ordained at the Christmas Conference. When his name 
first appeared in the Minutes, says Dr. Roberts, " there were 
in this country but 14 circuits and stations, 49 preachers, and 
8,577 members." When he died "there were 2,335 circuits 
and stations, 10,026 preachers, traveling and local, and 
795,445 members. If the time of his actual commencing his 
itinerant labors be referred to, the contrast will appear still 
more striking, there being at that time in the whole Con- 
nection but 10 circuits, 19 preachers, and 3,148 members. 
In his own Conference, (Baltimore,) at the time of his 
death, there were seven times as many circuits and sta- 
tions, (98,) more than nine times as many preachers, travel- 
ing and local, (453,) and more than six times as many 
members, (52,965,) as were in the Connection at the time of 
his commencing his ministry. No man in our community 
commanded greater respect and veneration than did he. 
The flame of his piety was not transient as the meteor's 
blaze ; it was a steady burning and shining light. At the 
time of his death he was the oldest Methodist traveling 
preacher either in Europe or America." 



JOHN SMITH. 

This devoted Christian minister was born in Kent 
County, Maryland, March 10, 1758. He was converted 
June 9, 1780. In the year 1784 he was admitted on trial 
into the itinerancy, and traveled New Hope, Redstone, 
Greenbrier, Cecil, Talbot, Milford, Somerset, Annamessex 
twice, Caroline, and Dover Circuits. From the beginning 
he was of slender constitution, and, of course, seriously felt 
the severe wear of the pioneer work. He appears to have 
been a man of lovely character and exemplary life. Henry 
Boehm says he "possessed much of the spirit of the be- 
loved John. He was a very genial old man, and his con- 
versation was agreeable and profitable. I heard him 



426 



Centennial History of 



preach from Psalm xxiv, 3, 4 : ' Who shall ascend into the 
hill of the Lord?' etc. It was a profitable discourse and 
much good was done." The Rev. Thomas Smith writes, 
May 12, 1812: "I preached the funeral sermon of the 
Rev. John Smith, an aged minister of Jesus Christ. He 
was in the first Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, in Baltimore, and after spending a long and labori- 
ous life in the itinerant connection he died in Chester- 
town. His remains were borne to the Methodist Episcopal 
church, where the sermon was delivered on 2 Timothy 
iv, 7 : 1 1 have fought a good fight, I have finished my 
course, I have kept the faith.' A large concourse attend- 
ed to pay the last tribute of respect to one who lived, to 
one who died, so well. His remains were then taken to 
Hynson's Chapel and interred by the side of the late Rev. 
William Gill." 

Thus two of the members of the Christmas Conference 
await together the resurrection of the just in a grave-yard 
near Chestertown, Maryland. 

Mr. Smith's end was glorious. " His last illness," say 
his brethren, " was long and trying, but during the whole 
of it he was a pattern of patience and resignation. His 
language was : ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ; take my 
enraptured soul away. I am not afraid to die. I long to 
be dissolved and see the face of God without a dimning 
veil between. Death has lost his sting.' Thus died our 
beloved brother, John Smith, on the 10th day of May, 1812, 
in the fifty-fifth year of his age, at Chestertown, in his 
native county." * 

THOMAS YASET. 

Mr. Yasey, who came to the United States with Dr. 
Coke and Mr. Whatcoat in 1784, did not remain very long. 
He labored for a time in the ministry of the new Church, 
and then was ordained by Bishop White, of the Protestant 

* Minutes of 1813. 



American Methodism. 



427 



Episcopal Church, notwithstanding he had received ordina- 
tion at the hands of Wesley. He was reared in the Church 
of England, but as he came into manhood he joined the 
Methodists. When he returned to England he accepted 
an English curacy. In 1789, however, "he returned to 
the itinerant work, in which he continued a zealous and 
successful laborer until 1811. From this year until his 
death he continued to perform the liturgical services in 
the City Road Chapel, London." * 

Mr. Vasey died suddenly in 1826, at the age of eighty. 
" His Christian simplicity, pious conversation, his fervency 
and diligence in prayer, were highly exemplary. For some 
time previous to his death, nearly one third of his time 
appeared to be spent in prayer." 

THOMAS WARE. 

Thomas Ware was a native of New Jersey, and was born 
in Greenwich, Cumberland County, December 19, 175S. 
His father died while he was yet young, leaving his mother 
a widow with eight children. His facilities for education 
were small. He became a soldier in the Revolution. He 
afterward formed the purpose of going to sea, and was on 
the eve of departing when he retired one day to a secluded 
place, near Mount Holly, New Jersey, to contemplate the 
plan he had formed. While thus retired and musing on 
his new project a pleasing voice, exercised in song, fell 
upon his ear. The melody attracted and pleased him. The 
voice, which was one of the best he ever heard, proceeded 
from a man on horseback who was singing a Wesleyan 
hymn : 

" 1 Still out of the deepest abyss 

Of trouble, I mournfully cry ; 
I pine to recover my peace, 

And see my Redeemer, and die.' " 



*Lediuim's "Rise of Methodism in America," p. 404. 



428 



Centennial History of 



There was something in the voice and also in the lan- 
guage which deeply touched him, especially the words : 

" I cannot, I cannot forbear, 

These passionate longings for home." 

The song ceased, but young Ware followed the stranger 
a considerable distance, hoping he would resume singing. 
At length he saw him dismount at the house of a Meth- 
odist. He then concluded he was a Methodist preacher and 
would probably preacli that night. A wish he felt to hear 
him he thought could not be indulged, as he had a pre- 
vious engagement. 

Mr. "Ware then knew but little of the Methodists, and 
his mother, who was a Presbyterian, had charged him to 
avoid them. He had also heard them accused of disloy- 
alty to their country. A Methodist of the town, however, 
to whom he was under some obligation, suspected him of 
having serious impressions; and told him that Mr. Pedi- 
cord, a very good preacher, would preacli that night, and 
expressed a wish that he should hear him. " I told him," 
says Ware, " that I presumed I had seen the preacher, and 
mentioned the lines I had heard him sing. On inquiring 
if he knew such a hymn, he replied that he did very well, 
and immediately sung it to the same tune. As he was an 
excellent singer I was deeply affected, even to tears." 

Mr. Ware heard Mr. Pedicord preach that evening, and 
thereby his course of life was changed. "When the 
meeting closed," he says, " I hastened to my lodgings, re- 
tired to my room, fell upon my knees before God, and 
spent much of the night in penitential tears. I did not 
once think of my engagement with my sea-bound com- 
panions until the next day, when I went and told the 
young man, who had indnced me to enlist in the project, 
that I had abandoned all thoughts of going to sea. They, 
however, proceeded in their perilous undertaking, were 
betrayed, their officers thrown into prison, and the brig 



American Methodism. 



429 



and cargo confiscated. When I heard of this I praised the 
Lord for my deliverance." 

After his conversion Ware traveled sixty miles to see an 
unconverted sister. In his first interview with her she 
was impressed with her need of the same treasure her 
brother had found, and did not rest until she obtained it. 

Mr. Ware became active in religious exercises, and was 
soon appointed leader of a class. He also employed his 
gifts in exhortation. Mr. Asbury sent for him, and, in the 
course of their interview, he led Ware to promise that he 
would go to a circuit. In September, 1783, he set out upon 
that noble career in the itinerancy which he maintained for 
over forty years. In 1825 he retired in advanced age from 
the active ranks. 

Mr. Ware was a prominent man in the Church. We 
have seen that in 1787 he heroically volunteered to brave 
the dangers and hardships of a frontier missionary service 
in Tennessee. In 1789 Bishop Asbury transferred him to 
North Carolina. In 1791 he was appointed to Wilming- 
ton, Delaware. Thenceforward he tilled an important 
sphere as presiding elder, pastor, and Agent of the Book 
Concern. He ranks with the " heroes of Methodism." 

He was a man of mental poise, sound judgment, and 
symmetrical character. His spirit was genial, his form 
commanding, and his countenance pleasant. His labors in 
the pulpit and in other departments of ministerial service 
were efficient and profitable. His little book of autobio- 
graphical reminiscences is especially valuable for the light 
it sheds upon the early history of the Church. Mr. Ware 
had the art beyond any of his contemporaries whose works 
have descended to us- of recording, in a pleasing style, the 
kind of facts that are of value as history. The historical 
literature of the Church will ever be much indebted to the 
discriminating pen of Thomas Ware. Numerous facts of 
interest and importance concerning the early preachers and 
their work, but for his writings, would now be unknown. 



430 



Centennial History of 



He passed the closing years of his life in retirement in 
Salem, New Jersey. At the time of his death he was, 
probably, the oldest minister of his Church. He died 
March 11, 1842. 

WILLIAM WAITERS. 

One fact gives to the name of Mr. Watters a special 
prominence and interest, namely, that he was the first 
native American who joined the Methodist itinerancy. 
"When Methodism numbered less than twelve hundred 
members in this land William Watters gave himself to her 
service in the ministry of the Gospel. He was admitted 
at the first Conference held in America, at Philadelphia, 
in June, 1773. 

He was born, October 6, 1751, in Baltimore County, Mary- 
land. He heard the Methodists preach about the year 1770. 
He was happily converted, in May, 1771, in the same house 
in which he was born. He had no knowledge of any 
people but the Methodists who professed to know any thing 
of that which he now enjoyed, and he united himself with 
them, " and thought it a greater blessing," he says, " to be 
received a member among them than to be made a prince." 

The Methodists had no regular preaching in that day 
in his region, and there had been only three preachers 
in Maryland : Strawbridge, King, and Williams. Some- 
times quite a long period elapsed in which they had no 
preaching. "But in one sense," he says, "we were all 
preachers. The visible change that sinners could not but 
see, and many openly acknowledged, was a means of bring- 
ing them to seek the Lord. On the Lord's day we com- 
monly divided into little bands and went out into different 
neighborhoods, wherever there was a door open to receive 
us, two, three, or four in company, and would sing our 
hymns, pray, read, talk to the people, and some soon began 
to add a word of exhortation. We were weak, but we 
lived in a dark day, and the Lord greatly owned our labors. 



American Methodism. 



431 



Though we were not full of wisdom, we were blessed with 
a good degree of faith and power. The little flock was of 
one heart and mind. The Lord spread the leaven of his 
grace from heart to heart, from house to house, and from 
one neighborhood to another. Though our gifts were 
small, it was astonishing to see how rapidly the work 
spread all around, bearing down the little oppositions with 
which it met as chaff before the wind. Many will praise 
God forever for our prayer-meetings. In many neighbor- 
hoods they soon became respectable and were considerably 
attended." 

Finding that his humble labors were blessed in the con- 
version of souls, Watters sought by fasting and prayer for 
divine direction, and finally became convinced that he must 
go forth as a public laborer in the vineyard. In the fall 
of 1772 he went to Norfolk, Virginia, with Robert Will- 
iams. Mr. Pilmoor took a tour south as far as Charles- 
ton, and left Watters to fill his place in Norfolk. 

Watters continued to labor in the itinerancy until 1783, 
when he located. He, however, retained his zeal and con- 
tinued to labor in the Gospel. He performed considerable 
service in preaclTiug regularly on a circuit immediately 
after his retirement. It was probably by reason of his 
being thus employed that he attended the Christmas Con- 
ference. In 1786 he returned to the regular work, but 
family considerations led him again to desist before half 
the year had passed. He again entered the active ranks in 
1801, and continued till 1806, when he finally retired. 

In September, 1783, the Rev. J. J. G. Webster visited 
the grave of Mr. Watters, in the neighborhood of Langley, 
Virginia. Of that visit he says: "Learning that the 
house in which he lived and died is still standing, we 
bent our way thitherward, and found it about half a mile 
distant from the place of his burial. It is a one-and-a-half 
story frame, gable-roofed house, with a capacious stone 
chimney, built upon the outside, and a single-covered 



432 



Centennial History of 



portico over the entrance. It contains two attic rooms and 
two rooms on the lower floor — a. parlor, in which the meet- 
ings used to be held, and a bedroom, in which William 
Watters died. It stands as he left it, except that the 
kitchen, which used to be separate, has been moved against 
the house. This property was bought by Mr. Watters at 
the time of his first location ; and here, with the exception 
of two brief intervals of itinerant work, he lived for forty- 
four years. 

" His nephew, Mr. Wren, describes him as a man of 
medium height and slender physique / dignified in his 
carriage, but exceedingly courteous and affable ; wearing 
knee breeches and buckled shoes ; claw-hammer coat and 
gold spectacles. He owned a considerable farm and was 
in comfortable circumstances ; was greatly beloved by the 
poor, whose lowly homes were often cheered by his pres- 
ence, his counsel, and his temporal aid. During the last 
ten years of his life he was almost totally blind, but, not- 
withstanding this great affliction, he persisted to the close 
of his life in preaching, in holding public religious meet- 
ings at his home, and in visiting the sick and the poor. 
Mr. Wren says : e If ever there was a good man it was 
Uncle Watters.' He also informed us that while Mr. 
Watters was himself gentle and quiet in demeanor, yet un- 
der his preaching and under his singing — for his voice was 
very sweet — the people would become powerfully moved, 
and, to use his words, 'he sometimes thought they would 
shout the roof off the house.' The people for many years 
and for many miles around regarded Mr. Watters's home 
as their religious head-quarters. Mr. Watters left no chil- 
dren." * Mrs. Watters survived until October 29, 1845. 

According to the record of his death, which is contained 
in his family Bible, Mr. Watters died March. 29, 1827. 
This date is doubtless correct. Dr. Bond, in his " Appeal," 

* Communication in the " The Baltimore Episcopal Methodist," September 
15; 1883. 



American Methodism. 



433 



which was published in 1827, speaks of Watters as having 
recently deceased. The Rev. Dr. Hamilton, in Sprague's 
" Annals," was led into the mistake of assigning the death 
of Mr. Watters to the year 1833. 

When in June, 1773, Mr. Watters joined the first Con- 
ference held in America, Methodism had only eleven hun- 
dred and sixty members in the country, and ten traveling 
preachers, inclusive of himself. When, nearly fifty-four 
years subsequently, he ascended to glory from the bosom 
of the American Methodist Church, its membership num- 
bered about three hundred and eighty thousand, its itiner- 
ants about one thousand five hundred, and it had over- 
spread the settled domain of the Eepublic. 
19 



434 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

JAMES O'KELLT AND THE FIRST GENERAL CONFERENCE OP 
THE NEW CHURCH. 

EVERY man leaves upon the world the effect of his 
deeds. The oft-quoted words of Longfellow suggest 
a great truth : 

" Lives of great men all remind us 

We can make our lives sublime, 
And departing, leave behind us 

Foot-prints on the sands of time." 

James O'Kelly has left "foot-prints" behind him. 

Simple justice requires that he should be accredited 
with having secured a General Conference ior the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church. That essential and valuable con- 
stituent of its polity is the legacy which the unfortunate 
Virginia presiding elder left to the denomination which 
for years he served with conspicuous ability and devotion. 

The Christmas Conference effected a Church organiza- 
tion in outline, but left many details untouched. No 
provision was made by that body for a convocation of 
preachers to determine questions of government which 
must inevitably arise, with the development of the Church, 
and demand authoritative decision. 

Before the Church was organized each ecclesiastical 
problem and plan was adjusted either by Mr. Wesley or 
the District Conferences. After that event this method 
was found to be inadequate. In 1789 the Bishops proposed 
a Council of Presiding Elders for the purpose of initiating 
legislation and exercising supervision of the college, and 
other affairs of the Church. To this plan the Conferences 
assented ; and, accordingly, the first Council was held at 
Baltimore, December 1, 1789. 



American Methodism. 



435 



It was then believed that a General Conference was not 
practicable because of the great extent of the country and 
the inconvenience that would attend the gathering of the 
preachers from distant circuits to its sessions. 

The Council was to " mature every thing they might see 
necessary for the good of the Church," and "to correct 
all abuses and disorders." None but Bishops and presid- 
ing elders were allowed to participate in its deliberations. 
Mr. O'Kelly charged that Asbury denied the application 
of two preachers for admission, thus : " Francis refused 
two worthy ministers a seat in Council in his absolute 
manner without rendering any reason for such conduct." 
To this Mr. Snethen replied : " Why did not Mr. O'Kelly 
render the reason ? Doubtless he knew why Mr. Asbury 
did not admit them. These men had no right to a seat in 
the Council. Mr. Asbury asked leave of the District Con- 
ferences to meet all the presiding elders in Council at 
Baltimore. These took their seats.* Two preachers, it 
appears, who were not presiding elders, asked leave to sit 
in the Council, but Mr. Asbury had no authority to grant 
them their request." f 

The plan or constitution of the Council provided that 
its action concerning any measure might be vetoed by a 
majority of the District Conferences. Mr. O'Kelly, who 
sat in the first Council, afterward strongly opposed ac- 
cepting its action, and he was the chief agent in abolish- 
ing the plan. When the measures which had been adopted 
by the Council came before the Virginia Conference, 
O'Kelly's opposition was so effective that the vote was 
almost unanimous against their acceptance. Mr. Snethen, 
in his " Eeply to O'Kelly," says : " The design of the 
Council was to prepare business to be laid before the Dis- 
trict Conferences. When their resolutions were laid be- 
fore the Virginia Conference, Mr. O'Kelly had obtained, 

* There were nine in attendance, besides Asbury. 
f "Reply to O'Kelly," by the Rev. Nicholas Snethen. 



436 



Centennial Histoey of 



by his unremitted efforts, sufficient influence over all the 
members but two, * to induce them to reject the whole." 
This was, undoubtedly, a severe test of the patience of As- 
bury. Says Mr. Snethen : " Mr. Asbury, knowing that 
Mr. 0'Kelly was the sole author of all this, probably said 
some things which, upon reflection, he did not justify.'' f 

Though the work of the Council received such condem- 
natory treatment from this Conference, the Bishop be- 
lieved it to be the wisest method for obtaining necessary leg- 
islation. He proceeded to hold a second Council, according 
to the appointment made by the first. He sought to rally 
the preachers to sustain this measure. He wrote to Mor- 
rell some time after the first Council : " The general 
opinion is, that we ought to have a Council, and that the 
men should be the choice of their different Conferences, 
and their mouths, eyes, and ears hostages and sureties for 
the firm and lasting union and order of the body ; and that 
nothing should be binding upon the whole body without 
a majority of the General Conference. £ Can you think it 
fit that the Bishops or Bishop — as the chief lies upon myself 
— should have the sole government of our college and 
schools, unaided by the counsel of the wisest and most able 
of our brethren, whom I hope the wisdom of the Confer- 
ences will elect ? Ought he not to try to be guarded better 
and have a Council, as so many witnesses to his probity and 
transactions, and a security that he may not run headlong 
to make the community insolvent? The profits arising 
from printing, if that work is prudently conducted, will, 
ere long, make one thousand per year. We have told the 
public how these profits shall be applied, and they expect 

* Asbury states, in a letter to Morrell, that the division stood 23 to 3. 
f " Reply to O'Kelly." 

X By General Conference the Bishop must have meant the preachers in 
general gathered in their Conferences as differentiated from the select 
number in the Council. There was no General Conference at that time, in 
the sense of that term as now understood. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



437 



that we not only mean, bnt will do, what we promise. 
Now as the train of this was laid by me, it ought not to be 
and cannot be taken out of my hands altogether as the 
Bishop of the Church — as in some sense to many the father 
of the Connection, unless it can be proved I have done 
wickedly. As to acting weakly, I may have done so. 
Therefore I want good and frequent counsel. I can ask 
the Conferences, but I cannot drag the business twelve or 
thirteen times through Conferences ; that is enough to tire 
the spirit of Moses and Job. The General Conference can- 
not advise, but a select number hearing, seeing, and know- 
ing all transactions, may give me great assistance and 
instruction." 

Six months before the second Council the Bishop again 
wrote Mr. Morrell : " If you can make a visit to Cokes- 
bury in December, I will make you welcome. I expect 
the resolutions of the Council, relative to the college, will 
have the power of laws. When persons and circumstan- 
ces are properly brought before them on the spot they can 
determine better than distant Conferences." He also in 
1790 wrote Morrell: "I am, I think, prepared to answer 
every objection to candid minds against the Council, and 
that is of vast moment." 

The plan, however, notwithstanding Asbury's influence 
and efforts, could hardly be called successful. Only ten 
presiding elders attended the second Council which con- 
sidered itself invested " with full power to act decisively 
in all temporal matters, and to recommend to the several- 
Conferences any new canons, or alterations to be made in 
old ones." 

The first historian of the Church says : " This Council 
determined to have another meeting two years from that 
time, but their proceedings gave such dissatisfaction to 
our Connection in general, and to some of the traveling 
preachers in particular, that they were forced to abandon the 
plan. There has never since been a meeting of the kind. 



438 



Centennial Histoey of 



" When the first Council met I wrote them a letter, in 
which I stated my objections to their plan, and pointed 
out the difficulties it would produce, and contended for a 
General Conference, which was disapproved by all the 
Council." * 

The letter of Mr. Lee called forth a reply, which indi- 
cates that the members of the Council were not prepared 
to entertain suggestions adverse to their views. The 
letter addressed to Mr. Lee was as follows : 

"In Council, Baltimore, Dec. 7, 1*789. 
" Very Dear Brother : We are both grieved and sur- 
prised to find that you make so many objections to the 
very fundamentals of Methodism. But we consider your 
want of experience in many things, and therefore" put the 
best construction on your intention. You are acquainted 
with the discipline of the Methodist Church. If you can 
quietly labor among us under our discipline and rules, we 
cheerfully retain you as our brother and fellow-laborer, 
and remain yours in sincere affection." 

This letter was signed, with others, by James O'Kelly. 
Yet after that Council had adjourned, Mr. O'Kelly became 
the most zealous and active antagonist of its measures. 
Of this apparent inconsistency of O'Kelly, Mr. Lee said : 
" You complained heavily of me, and indirectly threatened 
to turn me out of the Church if I was not quiet, because I 
wrote to the preachers the objections I had to make ; and 
then you yourself began to exclaim bitterly against your 
own plan, and to lay all the blame upon those that were 
united with you. 

" Chapter x, verse 1, you say : ' I wrote several letters to 
the different Conferences through the medium of the 
president elders, and Brother Jesse helped me a little.' 
Wherein I helped you I cannot tell, unless it was in writ- 
ing to the Council. If that helped you I am sure you 

* Lee's "History of the Methodists," pp. 158, 159. 



American Methodism. 



439 



ought to have asked my pardon for intimating that you 
would turn me out from amoug you if I was not quiet. 
If I helped you by writing against your plan in 1789, I 
hope I shall help you to see and understand things better 
by writing against you also at this time." * 

Bishop Asbury appears to have been opposed to a Gen- 
eral Conference, while Mr. O'Kelly was thoroughly in 
favor of it. The latter labored zealously and successfully to 
accomplish his design. He wrote letters to Dr. Coke and 
secured his co-operation. As a result Asbury and Coke 
were brought to the verge of antagonism. Mr. Snethen, 
in his " Reply to O'Kelly," shows this in the following 
passage : " It is nothing strange that Dr. Coke should 
be affected by Mr. O'Kelly's representation of Mr. As- 
bury 's conduct ; and finding Mr. Asbury averse to a Gen- 
eral Conference, it is not surprising that the doctor should 
insist upon Mr. O'Kelly's request being granted. A few 
sharp words passed between the two Bishops on this occa- 
sion, but the heat was over in a moment." 

In this struggle O'Kelly won with the aid of Coke. 
Seeing that a crisis was reached which he could not wisely 
ignore, Asbury sacrificed his personal wish and consented 
that a General Conference should be held. Snethen says: 
"Mi*. Asbury submitted to a General Conference for fear 
of a division in the Connection. Like the true mother, he 
could not bear the idea of dividing the living child. jSTote 
the ' General Meeting ' or 6 Conference ' is 1 appointed ac- 
cording to our request.'' It is Mr. O'Kelly and his friends' 
that request it, and Mr. Asbury and his friends consent to 
it for the sake of peace." f 

Bishop Asbury 1 s record in his Journal respecting this 
affair is in harmony with Mr. Snethen's statement. March 
23, 1791, he writes : " Long-looked-f or Doctor Coke came 
to town [Charleston.] He had been shipwrecked off Edisto. 
I found the doctor's sentiments with regard to the Coun- 
* "Life and Times of Jesse Lee." * f " Reply to O'Kelly." 



440 



Centennial Histoby of 



cil quite changed. James O'Kelly's letters had reached 
London. I felt perfectly calm, and acceded to a General 
Conference for the sake of peace." Mr. Snethen states 
that " the instant a General Conference was acceded to the 
Council was superseded." * 

The General Conference having been decided upon, it 
was convened on the first day of November, 1792. " A 
committee of the most judicious and the most experienced 
members was chosen to select and lay before the Confer- 
ence subjects of the greatest importance in order to facili- 
tate business. It was the opinion of this committee that 
it would be proper to revise and correct the form of disci- 
pline; to make it more perfect and systematic. Each 
section was proposed in order, debated, ratified, or rejected 
by the majority." f 

That which gives distinction to the General Conference 
of 1792 was the debate and settlement of the question, 
whether the power of stationing the preachers should be 
retained absolutely by the Bishop, or be shared by the Con- 
ference under certain conditions. Mr. O'Kelly was the 
leader of a movement to modify the Bishop's power of 
appointment to the extent of allowing to any preacher who 
should feel dissatisfied with the place assigned him an ap- 
peal to the Conference. The proposition was embodied in 
the following words, namely : " After the Bishop appoints 
the preachers at Conference to their several circuits, if any 
one think himself injured by the appointment, he shall 
have liberty to appeal to the Conference and state his 
objections, and if the Conference approve his objections 
the Bishop shall appoint him to another circuit." 

There was nothing in this proposition which could 
detract in any degree from the Christian excellence or 
the Methodist loyalty of the men who advocated it. It 
was purely a question of Church polity, which, like any 

* " Eeply to O'Kelly." This shows that until that time the plan of a Gen- 
eral Conference had not been adopted. t Snethen's Reply. 



American Methodism. 



441 



other question, required to be settled upon its merits. 
The Methodists of England, since Wesley's death, have 
practiced the principle which Mr. O' Kelly desired the 
American Methodist Church to adopt, namely, that of 
permitting an aggrieved preacher to appeal to the Confer- 
ence for a change of appointment. Some of the best and 
ablest ministers of the young Church held O'Kelly's view. 
The motion to thus limit the Bishop's power was ably ad- 
vocated in the General Conference by Freeborn Garrett- 
son, Hope Hull, and Richard Ivey. William M'Kendree, 
also, earnestly favored the limitation. Mr. O'Kelly was his 
presiding elder. They went to the General Conference 
together. Says M'Kendree : " We arrived at the seat of 
the General Conference, and were appointed to lodge 
together. Conference commenced. Division of sentiment 
indeed ! Our lodging room was a council chamber." * 

The issue now became joined. It awakened deep inter- 
est and no doubt a degree of excitement. Asbury says : 
" I felt awful at the General Conference." He further 
says : " Some individuals among the preachers having their 
jealousies about my influence in the Conference, I gave the 
matter wholly up to them and to Dr. Coke, who presided. 
Meantime I sent them the folio wins: letter : 

" My Dear Brethren : Let my absence give you no 
pain. Dr. Coke presides. I am happily excused from 
assisting to make laws by which myself am to be governed. 
I have only to obey and execute. I am happy in the con- 
sideration that I never stationed a preacher through enmity 
or as a punishment. I have acted for the glory of God, 
the good of the people, and to promote the usefulness of 
the preachers. Are you sure that if you please yourselves 
the people will be as fully satisfied ? They often say, £ Let 
us have such a preacher,' and sometimes, ' We will not have 
such a preacher — we will sooner pay him to stay at home.' 

* Bishop Pa) T ne's "Life of M'Kendree." 

19* 



442 



Centennial History of 



Perhaps I must say, ' His appeal forced him upon you.' I 
am one ; ye are many. I am as willing to serve you as 
ever. I want not to sit in any man's way. I scorn to 
solicit votes. I am a very trembling poor creature to hear 
praise or dispraise. Speak your minds freely ; but remem- 
ber, you are only making laws for the present time. It 
may be that, as in some other things, so in this, a future 
day may give you further light. I am yours, etc., 

" Francis Asbury." 

John Dickins displayed his parliamentary skill and 
leadership at this important juncture in the Church's his- 
tory. " By one of those strokes of policy by which mis- 
chief is exposed and prevented, and the integrity of a 
great principle is preserved, Mr. Dickins moved a division 
of the subject, thus : First. Shall the Bishop appoint the 
preachers to their circuits % Second. Shall a preacher be 
allowed an appeal ? The first question was carried without 
a dissenting voice. The fate of the other soon followed — 
it was rejected by a large majority." * This decision so 
greatly grieved Mr. O'Kelly that he sent to the Conference 
his withdrawal in writing and departed. Efforts were 
made to retain him, and tears were shed, but without 
effect. He appeared to have received an incurable wound. 
Mr. Snethen has strongly sketched the case : " We come 
now to the awful point — the separation! Mr. O'Kelly, 
perhaps, is the first preacher who ever proposed an appeal 
to the Conference. Mr. Asbury 's name is called in ques- 
tion. It is suggested that he has been guilty of weakness 
and wickedness. He is distressed at the heat which pre- 
vails in the Conference, and goes out to give his enemies 
liberty to sift his character and conduct. To give sufficient 
time for a fair investigation of the motion, when the usual 
hour of adjournment arrives, the time is fixed to resume 
the debate. The subject is resumed. Nothing is left 
* l! Life and Times of Rev. Jesse Lee," p. 2*73. 



American Methodism. 



unsaid, let it be ever so personal, ever so severe. The vote 
at length is taken in the fairest manner ; the motion is 
negatived. The stationing of the preachers is to remain 
with the Bishop, as it has from the beginning. The Rev. 
James O' Kelly leaves the Conference, withdraws from 
the Connection, endeavors to make a division among the 
preachers and societies, to effect which the blackest epi- 
thets and the severest censures are propagated though the 
country against Mr. Asbury and the General Conference. 

" Kow what could Mr. Asbury do more than he did ? 
For fear of a division by this man he consents, and advises 
the preachers to consent, to a General Conference. A 
motion is made for an appeal. Mr. Asbury knows that if 
this motion is carried it will go directly to the destruction 
of the Traveling Plan. He foresees that another preacher 
can never be stationed whenever this motion takes effect ; 
yet lie interferes not. lie leaves it entirely with the ma- 
jority to determine, and the wisdom of the majority rejects 
the new plan. Must Mr. Asbury now rise up, counter- 
mand the vote, and expel all these men if they do not grant 
an appeal ? This he could not even attempt to do, for a 
Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church holds no nega- 
tive upon the Conference ; he has no compulsory influ- 
ence over any member. 

" Is this the man who has suffered so much for the 
cause of truth and liberty ? Is this the advocate of liberty 
and equality? Is this the enemy of despotism and op- 
pression ? It will be hard to discover any of these features 
in the conduct of Mr. O'Kelly in separating from his 
brethren. "Where is the truth, the liberty, the equality, 
the opposition to despotism and oppression in this man 
who, if he cannot influence more than one hundred preach- 
ers to think as he thinks and say as he says, will dissolve 
his connection with them, and, like a true son of discord, 
endeavor to divide and destroy them ? 

'•Apology, chapter xvi, verse 1. i It was surely a very fatal 



444 



Centennial History of 



hour of papal darkness in which a law passed that an in- 
jured brother, and a minister in the Church of Christ, 
should have no redress.' One is inclined to believe that Mr. 
O'Kelly has contemplated the dark side so long that every 
thing he looks at takes a black and erroneous complexion. 
If there has been any hour of ' papal darkness ' it must 
have been the fatal hour in which the Apology was writ- 
ten. How, in the name of truth and love, could Mr. 
O'Kelly possibly conceive the ideas that are asserted in 
this text % A number of preachers, in the capacity of a 
Conference, reject a motion which is laid before them, and 
this is called the passing of a law ! But what fills us with 
wonder and great amazement is that he should call it a 
law that no injured brother and minister should have re- 
dress. Put the very worst construction upon the conduct 
of the Conference, and it will amount to no more than 
this : That a preacher, who thinks himself injured in his 
appointment and requests to have an appeal to the District 
Conference, shall not have the indulgence. Behold how 
great a matter a little fire kindleth ! In Conference the 
motion is to provide an appeal to prevent imaginary in- 
jury ; but in the Apology the rejection of the motion is 
called a law which cuts of! every brother from justice in 
every possible case. If Mr. O'Kelly uses on other occa- 
sions this talent of amplification as successfully as in the 
present case his readers will derive but little correct infor- 
mation from his words. 

" In what a ludicrous situation would the appeal have 
placed the Bishop and the Conferences. A preacher has an 
appointment. He thinks himself injured. ' Brethren,' 
says he, £ I think the Bishop has injured me in giving me 
this station?' 'Very well, brother, if you think so you 
need not go. The Bishop shall send another in your 
room.' The Bishop is obliged to appoint another, perhaps 
one who has already received his station and is well satis- 
fied with it. He not only thinks himself injured, but is 



American Methodism. 



445 



really injured if he be forced to give up his station to sat- 
isfy the caprice of his thinking brother. How can a 
preacher know whether his appointment will be an injury 
to him before he makes the trial ? And how can the Con- 
ference know, when possibly two thirds of them may not 
only be ignorant of the station, but also of the preacher ? 
To raise such objections against the appeal, in Mr. 
O'Kelly's opinion, savors of ' ignorance or of policy.' If 
Mr. O'Kelly could not see the evil of allowing his tliiiiking 
preachers an appeal, he must be ignorant of human nature 
and of the Itinerant Plan. If he did see the evil and still 
persisted in supporting the motion, he must have been 
actuated by policy. At least he betrays a degree of weak- 
ness in publishing to the world a lame account of that 
peculiar production of his own brain — a rule to prevent 
imaginary injuries ! The reader, by looking over the 
yearly Minutes, will judge whether Mr. O'Kelly had any 
design or policy in proposing an appeal. His stations for 
ten years, from 17S2 to 1792, were almost constantly in the 
heart of old Virginia, presiding over a large district of the 
very best circuits in the Connection. Supposing that the 
privilege of an appeal had been granted, and this injured 
man had been stationed on his old ground, would he have 
appealed to the Conference for a station upon the banks 
of the Ohio, upon the frontiers of Kentucky and Tennes- 
see, or upon the burning sands of Georgia ? " * 

Coke informs us that the General Conference of 1792 
was in session fifteen days. He was impressed with the 
ability displayed by its members in their deliberations. He 
says : " I had always entertained very high ideas of the 
piety and zeal of the American preachers and of the consid- 
erable abilities of many ; but I had no expectation, I con- 
fess, that the debates would be carried on in so very mas- 
terly a manner, so that on every question of importance 
the subject seemed to be considered in every possible light. 

* Snetlien's " Reply to O'Kelly." 



446 



Centennial History of 



" Throughout the whole of the debate they considered 
themselves as the servants of the people, and, therefore, 
never lost sight of them on any question. Indeed, the 
single eye and spirit of humility which were manifested 
by the preachers throughout the whole of the Conference 
were extremely pleasing, and afforded a comfortable pros- 
pect of the increase of the work of God throughout the 
continent. They determined that the next General Con- 
ference shall be held on the first of November, 1796 ; and 
that in the meantime the districts respectively shall hold 
Annual Conferences. * 

" On Thursday, the 15th, after the Conference finally 
broke up, I preached on ' Pure religion and undefiled be- 
fore God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and 
widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted 
from the world.' A solem awe rested upon the congrega- 
tion. The meeting was continued till about midnight, and 
twelve persons, we have reason to believe, were adopted in- 
to the family of God. This was a glorious conclusion ; a 
gracious seal from Heaven to our proceedings." 

Several of O'Kelly's adherents, among whom was 
M'Kendree, went away from the Conference in com- 
pany with their chief. M'Kendree says : " The old 
gentleman broke off. I and some others obtained lib- 
erty of the Conference to return home, and set out 
for Yirginia. We had many consultations, were often 
confused in our deliberations, and, the rest of the com- 
pany having left us, the old gentleman and myself 
traveled the greater part of the way together. He un- 
folded his plan. It was to be 6 a glorious Church,' 4 no 
slavery,' etc. But it was founded upon the supposition 
that a ruinous government was being introduced by the 
revolutionizing Conference he had left. The supposed 
design of the Bishop answered to the root, and the more 

* Annual Conference boundaries were not formed by the General Confer- 
ence until 1796. 



American Methodism. 



ingenious of our cabinet discovered the trunk and all the 
branches of this tree. It was ' dark ; ' it was ' popery ! \ 
It was a horrible thing." 

M'Kendree, however, sought a fuller acquaintance with 
Mr. Asbury, and a more accurate knowledge of his char- 
acter. The result was he soon abandoned O'Kelly and re- 
turned to his ministerial labors in the Church. O'Kelly 
proceeded to cry out against the General Conference, and 
especially against Asbury. Alarming divisions resulted. 
" If he had meditated mischief," says the Eev. Dr. Le Eoy 
M. Lee, " he accomplished enough to gratify the taste of 
any one whose lust of evil is not set on fire of hell. It 
was as a traveler in the path of his ravages that Bishop 
Asbury, with characteristic plainness of speech, says : ' I 
was employed in reading " The Curse of Divisions." ' 
Dr. Coke, who had co-operated with O'Kelly in promoting 
his design of a General Conference, became aware of the 
evil results of his course and called him "an eminent 
schismatic." "James O'Kelly," he exclaims, in 1796, 
"once a most useful presiding elder, but now burning 
with zeal to make schisms wherever it is in his power." 

The course of O'Kelly, and the serious agitation he cre- 
ated, was, no doubt, a great trial to Asbury. The Church 
was not sufficiently strong to bear the strain of a formida- 
ble hostile movement originating from within itself with- 
out peril. Wisdom and firmness were necessary to control 
the exciting and adverse conditions. In a letter to Mr. 
Morrell, after the General Conference of 1792, Bishop As- 
bury refers to Mr. O'Kelly, and says : " It seems he will 
print his cause. This will bring many things to light that 
have been hidden. He goes where he pleases, writes what 
he pleases, and sends it open to the preachers by the people. 
All the traveling preachers that were his warmest friends 
have left him, except M'Kendree. I believe now nothing 
short of being an episcopos was his first aim. His second 
was to make the Council independent of the Bishop and 



448 



Centennial History of 



General Conference, if they would canonize his writings. 
This could not be done. His next step was with the author- 
ity of a Pope to forbid me, by letter, to go one step farther 
with the Council, after carrying it once around the continent 
and through the first Council which ordered me to go round 
and know the minds of the brethren. His following step 
was to write against me to Mr. Wesley, who he knew was 
disaffected to me, because I did not merely force the Amer- 
ican Conference to accede to Mr. Wesley's appointment 
of Brother Whatcoat, which I did submit to Dr. Coke only 
for peace with our old father. How moved he then to 
make himself independent of me and the general Connec- 
tion, and dragged in the little doctor, whom, a little before, 
he would have banished from the continent. Then he stip- 
ulated with me through the doctor to let him stay in that 
station, and consented to leave the decision to a General 
Conference, and when the decision went against him, went 
away. ~Now he, who was one of the greatest opposers they 
had, is suspected of raising a sedition among the local 
preachers. And, lastly, to set the people against us. Thus 
he has gone." Mr. O'Kelly was unwise in the policy he 
adopted. His mental eye became darkened by the smoke 
of the fire he had kindled. He thought the Church of 
Asbury would be shaken perhaps to its fall. "Men of 
wit," he said, " will leave the traveling connection." He 
did shake the Church, but it withstood the shock. During 
the height of the excitement there was a clear loss in the 
membership of seven thousand three hundred and fifty two. 

James O'Kelly was no ordinary man. He had a fine 
career as a Methodist preacher. Asbury, in a letter to 
Wesley, in March, 1784, speaks of O'Kelly's usefulness, 
and describes him as a man of God. He was opposed to 
slavery and boldly denounced it. When, however, he de- 
voted his talents to inaugurating ecclesiastical rebellion, 
and to dividing the Church he had helped to build, his light 
became sadly eclipsed. Foiled in his plan at the General 



American Methodism. 



449 



Conference of 1792, lie, like Garrettson and Hull, should 
have submitted to the result and gone forward as a faithful 
minister of Christ. Then his subsequent history would 
not have been clouded by disappointment, vexation, and 
failure.. There is reason to think that Mr. O'Kelly, under 
the influence of prejudice and passion, hastily turned aside 
from his providential path. Thereby he became an instru- 
ment of afflicting the Church, and of bringing evil upon 
himself as well as upon Zion. The unfortunate strife 
which he stirred up prevailed chiefly in the southern por- 
tion of Virginia and in the adjoining counties of North 
Carolina. " In all this region the influence of O'Kelly 
was very great, and he scrupled not to use it in building up 
his own cause. The history of this painful schism is full 
of sad memorials." * 

Mr. O'Kelly organized a "Kepublican Methodist 
Church." It afterward appears to have assumed the 
name of " Christian Church." A writer in the year 1S29 
says : " I have been acquainted with Mr. O'Kelly and his 
party from my childhood until his death, and for the last 
twelve years of my life have been a member of that body. 
They continue gradually to increase, but the exact number 
I am not able to give. I feel clear in saying there are sev- 
eral thousands, the major part, I believe, residing in North 
Carolina and Virginia." f The same writer says : " Mr. 
O'Kelly remained a firm and strenuous advocate of the 
primitive apostolic form of Church government, and died, 
in the triumphs of faith, on the 16th of October, 1826." 
It is said that he attained to the great age of ninety-one 
years. 

* Bennett's " Memorials of Methodism in Virginia." 
f Correspondent in " Mutual Rights and Christian Intelligencer, " Balti- 
more, 1829. 



450 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTER XIX. 

THE NEW CHURCH IN THE WEST. 

THE old Western Conference embraced all the territory 
west of the Alleghany Mountains. Vast as was its 
extent, the population within its bounds was very small. 
In the years 1796-98 the Rev. John Kobler was employed 
in extending old circuits and forming new ones " on the 
frontiers of Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Ohio." 
"Many of these newly-settled countries," says Kobler, 
" consisted of small groups of a few families, or strings of 
settlements on the water-courses." Two itinerants, at least, 
were in Tennessee before the Christmas Conference, and 
in 1786, as we have shown, the foundations of the Church 
were laid in Kentucky. It was not until near the end of 
the century that the itineranc}^ extended its lines to the 
North-west Territory, now the State of Ohio. 

In the year 1798 Bishop Asbury sent John Kobler as a 
missionary into that territory. Mr. Kobler that year 
formed the first circuit within its borders. It was called 
Miami Circuit. Its boundaries are given by Kobler: 
"Beginning at Columbia, and running up the Little 
Miami and Mad River to Zanesville, thence down the Big 
Miami to Cincinnati."* The city of Cincinnati stands 
upon ground which, Mr. Kobler says, was then " nearly a 
dense and uncultivated forest. ~No improvement was to be 
seen but Fort Washington, which was built on the brow 
of the hill and extended down to the margin of the river, 
around which was built a number of cabins, in which re- 
sided the first settlers of the place. This fortress was then 

* Kobler's communication in the " Christian Advocate and Journal," Aug. 
5, 1831. 



American Methodism. 



451 



under the command of General Harrison, and was the great 
place of rendezvous for the federal troops which were sent 
by the general government to guard the frontiers or to go 
forth to war with the Indians.''* 

During Kobler's ministry south and west of the Ohio 
River, near the close of the eighteenth century, he found 
religious destitution in the sparse settlements. "Many of 
these," he says, " had not a preacher within forty or fifty 
miles of them except ' itinerants.' " Kobler states that 
when he administered the Lord's Supper for the first time 
north-west of the Ohio River the number of the communi- 
cants " did not exceed twenty-five or thirty. This was the 
sum total of all that were in the country."f 

The work prospered, however, among the settlers, and 
the Church was securely founded by the zealous pioneer 
itinerants in the region known as the Western Confer- 
ence. Kobler, after giving the boundaries of his circuit, 
as above quoted, says : " This was the first regular circuit 
that was formed in the Ohio State. There I witnessed, in 
these outskirts of the work more especially, the unspeak- 
able blessings attending itinerancy. There, in the wilder- 
ness, the itinerant, mighty in the strength of prayer, lifted 
up his voice and cried aloud, ' The kingdom of heaven is 
at hand.' Immediately 'the wilderness and the solitary 
places were glad for them; the desert' began to 'blossom 
as the rose.' Thousands upon thousands were charmed by 
the Gospel, and won by grace and mercy to God. Large 
societies were formed where the sacraments were as duly 
and successfully administered as in any of the older towns 
or settlements. While others in the old settlements are 
contemplating ways and means to send the Gospel, are rais- 
ing outfits and lighting their torch, the itinerants will 
already have gone forth and set the new world on fire." \ 

* Quoted in Finley's " Sketches of Western Methodism," p. 170. 
f Finley's Sketches. 

% " Christian Advocate and Journal," August 5, 1831. 



452 



Centennial Histoey of 



It was not long after Kobler formed the Miami Circuit 
until the region was favored with an extensive revival. 
The Eev. Henry Smith, who left Kentucky for Ohio, 
September 11, 1799, says, not long afterward, a "work 
broke out in Mr. Dunlavery's congregation, on Eagle Creek, 
Ohio. This glorious revival soon spread nearly over the 
State, and was quite common in Presbyterian as well as 
Methodist congregations." 

John Kobler was born in Culpepper County, Virginia, 
August 29, 1768. He was converted in December, 1787, 
and entered the ministry in 1789. Soon he volunteered 
to serve as a pioneer evangelist in the West. Possessed of 
a strong constitution, he gave his strength to the work of 
God in that field of exposure and toil, and returned in a 
few years with a shattered body and a broken voice. He 
located and settled at or near Fredericksburg, Virginia. 
Some years before his death he was re-admitted by the 
Baltimore Conference, but continued in retirement. He 
was a faithful, evangelical, useful preacher, one of the he- 
roes of whom the world was not worthy. On his death- 
bed he said : " I have tried all my life to make my minis- 
try and life consistent." Shortly before life ceased he was 
asked, " Is Jesus precious ? " u O yes," he answered, 
" very precious, very precious." He died in Fredericks- 
burg,' July 26, 1843. 

Mr. Smith formed Scioto Circuit in the fall of 1799. 
He says : " I crossed the Ohio River near the mouth of Lit- 
tle Miami and pushed on to Mad River to see Brother Hunt, 
the preacher on Miami Circuit. Finding him still in his 
work, I returned to Little Miami, and on the 23d [Sep- 
tember] I started up the Ohio River to form a new circuit. 
I commenced on Eagle Creek and directed my course 
toward the mouth of the Scioto, and thence up the river to 
Chillicothe. In three weeks I formed Scioto Circuit, 
preaching a number of times, and sending appointments to 
other places against I came around again. 



American Methodism. 



453 



" In the spring of 1800 I went to Baltimore to attend 
the General Conference, and, by my own request, was re- 
turned to Scioto. Bishop Asbury was disposed to release 
me, saying, ' You have been there long enough.' As he 
could get no person I thought would suit the place, I went 
back and continued there until the fall of 1801. In some 
respects I was as well calculated to be a missionary there 
as most men, for I had accustomed myself to eat any thing 
that was set before me, and could sleep anywhere, and ac- 
commodate myself to every inconvenience, so that I might 
do good to the souls and bodies of my fellow-men. That 
summer bilious and intermittent fevers prevailed to a 
great extent in that country, particularly on the water- 
courses and near the large river bottoms. It was a time 
of great affliction among the new settlers. I myself was 
sick. Providentially I was on a short visit to Kentucky 
when first taken, where I could get medical aid. I was 
very ill, indeed, and my life was despaired of ; but Christ 
was precious, and I was resigned to the will of Heaven. 
Being very anxious to be at my work, I ventured out before 
I was well able to ride, had a relapse, and was again brought 
to death's door ; but I was among my beloved flock and at 
my post. I then felt as I never did before that ' faith is 
the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of tilings 
not seen.' My way was clear and my soul was full of 
glory. 

" As soon as I was able to ride I pushed ahead again, 
but being much exposed I relapsed again, and again, so that 
I did not get entirely clear of intermittent fevers for more 
than eighteen months. I pressed on, through thick and 
thin, though in great weakness, and often suffered much. 
I started in February, 1801, from Point Creek, for New 
Market, a distance of nearly fifty miles, and about thirty 
miles through a wilderness where no one lived. I was 
overtaken by a tremendous snow-storm mixed with hail. 
I began to think that my lot was hard and wept till I met 



454 



Centennial History of 



a poor fellow who was out in the storm as well as myself. 
I said to myself, 6 This man is not as well clad as I am, and 
he is out on his own business ; I am on the Lord's busi- 
ness.' I dried up my tears and went on cheerfully with a 
heart to sing, 

" 'In hope of that immortal crown, 

I now the cross sustain ; 
And gladly wander up and down, 

And smile at toil and pain.' " 

The work continued to prosper in Ohio, notwithstand- 
ing the fevers, bad roads, long rides, and exposures with 
which the itinerants had to contend. In May Mr. Smith 
found comfort and relief among congenial spirits. " Mon- 
day, 18," he says : " I got to my old friend, M'Cormick's,* 

* Francis M'Cormick is said to have introduced Methodism in Ohio. He 
was not an itinerant. Mr. Smith knew him in Virginia, where he was con- 
verted, about 1790. He says M'Cormick was a Uuiversalist and advocated 
the doctrine. He attended Methodist meeting, says Smith, " got power- 
fully awakened, joined society, and that night began to pray in his family. 
M'Cormick became a leader of a class, an exhorter, and finally a local 
preacher, and was a pioneer in the West. In the fall of IT 99 I found him 
on the banks of the Little Miami, opening the way for the traveling preach- 
ers." Mr. M'Cormick started for the West, October 10, 1795, reached 
Bourbon County, Kentucky, in December; "for many reasons did not like 
it and was resolved to go to the North-west Territory." "I went," he says, 
" and liked it well, stayed seventeen months in that territory, and moved to 
the Little Miami, near where Milford now stands. The good Spirit of the 
Lord impressed it upon my mind that I must make a class-paper and have 
my own name and that of my family on it. I did so, and made up a class 
of ten. I then began to hold meetings in different places and made up two 
more. I began to be very uneasy, having no regidar traveling preacher. I 
attended two of the Kentucky Conferences to persuade the preachers to 
1 Come over into Macedonia, and help us,' but all in vain, there being but few 
preachers, and these had all Kentucky and West Tennessee to travel. The 
Rev. John Kobler, who was presiding elder in Kentucky, volunteered to 
suffer and to hold forth a dying Saviour to lost men. His coming was re- 
freshing to all. I went with him up the Little Miami and to Mad River as 
far as there were inhabitants, and then down the Great Miami." (M'Cormick's 
narrative, " Methodist Magazine," 1822.) According to M'Cormick this was 
in 1799. Kobler and Smith put it in 1798. The Minutes furnish no informa- 
tion respecting the date, as in 1798 they show Kobler as appointed to Cum- 



American Methodism. 



455 



I rested till Saturday, took medicine, and recovered so far 
as to be able to preach and hold the quarterly meeting at 
Brother Gateh's.* It was a blessed season of refreshing 
from the Lord ; light, love, and power prevailed, and al- 
though I was sick, I found it good to be there." 

The Kev. William M'Kendree, the presiding elder of 
the Kentucky District, which included the work in Ohio, 
wrote October 10, 1802, as follows : " To give you a par- 

berland, and in 1799 to Hinkstone. As neither of these circuits was in 
Ohio it looks, at first glance, as if M'Cormick's date (August, 1799) was the 
true one of the beginning of Kobler's work in Ohio. Gatch, however, cor- 
roborates Kobler and Smith as to the date; therefore, it may be considered 
that Miami Circuit was formed in 1798. Tlio Minutes cannot be accepted as 
authority concerning appointments in those missionary days in all cases. 

* Philip Gatch was one of the earliest native itinerants, and was promi- 
nent in the ministry. He located in Virginia before the Church was organ- 
ized. He was antislavery and removed in 1798 to the North-west Territory. 
He located in M'Cormick's neighborhood. He was long an influential citizen 
and a faithful local preacher in Ohio. Mr. Gatch says that he and the Rev. 
James Smith and Ambrose Ranson, with their families, set out for the West, 
October 11, 1798. "I purchased," says Gatch, "a tract in the forks of the 
Little Miami. Near this place Brother Francis M'Cormick, a Methodist 
preacher from Virginia, had settled and collected a society. This and other 
considerations induced me to settle where I did. I preached at Newtown 
and at two places on the west of the Miami River. Our congregations were 
small, as the people were thinly settled in the neighborhood. About the 
middle of February we had our cabin finished and moved into it. John 
Kobler had come from Virginia to travel and preach in this newly-settled 
country. His labors were hard and his difficulties great; but he sowed the 
good seed of the kingdom in different places. It encouraged the few 
Methodists that were scattered abroad in the new country. He left us, and 
in the month of June [this must have been the year 1799] Lewis Hunt came 
to labor with us. He traveled extensively, labored much, and his useful- 
ness appeared in some places, but his constitution failed ; he returned to 
Kentucky, and afterward died in peace. Henry Smith also visited us and 
labored in the Gospel. His station was on the Scioto. After these preach- 
ers left us we were without a traveling preacher for a considerable time." 
(Gatch's Biography, by Judge M'Lean.) The Rev Henry Smith says of the 
Rev. Lewis Hunt, who followed Kobler in Ohio : " He was very anxious to 
see me, but before I got around to where he was he had finished his short 
race and gone to his reward. I loved this young man very much. His 
premature death took hold of my feellings and I wept over his grave." 



456 



Centennial History of 



ticular account of the work of God in the western country- 
would exceed the bounds of a letter and swell into a 
pamphlet. I can, therefore, give you but a general view 
of what God is in mercy doing for this people. 

" My spring visit ended at our old friend, Philip Gatch's, 
Little Miami, on the third Sunday in June, which was the 
thirteenth Sabbath in continuity that I attended meetings 
from two to four days each. Our congregations were gener- 
ally large. In places where fifty formerly made a respectable 
congregation a thousand is now a tolerable gathering, and, 
blessed be God ! we were generally favored with distin- 
guishing marks of the Divine presence. I introduced the 
Limestone quarterly meeting with Romans i, 16. The Lord 
was present, indeed. We had a most solemn meeting. At 
the sacrament on the Lord's day, which was administered 
out-of-doors of necessity, the Lord was powerfully present. 
The place was so awful that the looks of the by-standers 
visibly proclaimed, 6 God is here and we are afraid.' 
Psalm lxxxiv, 11, was the subject on Monday. The ser- 
mon that day imperceptibly led my mind back to the day 
of Pentecost, for truly the burst of joy, when it could be 
restrained no longer, was as the voice of a rushing wind. 
A few appeared to be angry and withdrew, but the work 
continued until near sunset. It would be mere conjecture 
to give the number converted. 

" People came from afar to the Miami quarterly meeting. 
I heard of women who walked thirty miles to it, so that 
our congregation was very large for that new country. 
On the first day we were favored with the presence of the 
Lord in a singular manner, and I think I may safely say 
it increased throughout the meeting. On Sunday two 
young women of genteel appearance fell not far from the 
stand, but were presently taken off by some men — their 
brothers, as I was informed. The Spirit of God, like a 
sword, pierced one of the men, and about ten steps 
from the stand he suddenly fell to the earth, together with 



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457 



his weeping charge, and cried aloud for mercy! The 
other was graciously visited in like manner. Thus there 
were four instead of two deeply engaged. This attracted 
the attention of many, so that there were many convicted 
through their means, and I am informed they never rested 
until they found peace, by which means religion was car- 
ried into other parts, and the work of God continued to 
spread." * 

Francis Poythress had been presiding elder of this ex- 
tensive district, but when his infirmity of mind compelled 
him to retire, M'Kendree was transferred from Virginia, 
by Bishop Asbury, to preside over it. The Rev. Jacob 
Young, who was among the early Methodist converts in 
Ohio, received baptism at the hands of Poythress. Of 
M'Kendree Mr. Young says : " He was a distinguished 
minister of Jesus Christ. I suppose he found the district 
in very bad order. It covered the whole of Kentucky and 
Tennessee. The elder that preceded him was a very old man. 
The roads were bad and the rides very long. The burden 
was too heavy for the good old man and he sank under it. 

" M'Kendree had been but a few months on the ground 
until he understood perfectly his field of labor. He moved 
day and night, visiting families, organizing societies, and 
holding Quarterly Conferences. It was his constant prac- 
tice to travel from thirty to fifty miles in a day and 
preach at night. All classes of people flocked to hear 
him — statesmen, lawyers, doctors, and theologians of all 
denominations clustered around him, saying, as they re- 
turned home, ' Did you ever hear the like before ? ' 
Some, indeed, were so captivated, that they would say, 
' Never man speak like this man ! ' He saw that the 
harvest was truly great and the laborers few. Early in 
the morning and late in the evening, with streaming eyes, 
he prayed God, with hands and heart uplifted, that he 
would send laborers into the harvest. 

* Extracts of Letters. 

20 



458 



Centennial History of 



" He was actively engaged forming new circuits and call- 
ing out local preachers to fill them. Whenever he found 
a young man of piety and native talent he led him out 
into the Lord's vineyard. Large as his district was, it soon 
became too small for him. He extended his labors to 
every part of south-western Virginia, then, crossing the 
Ohio River, he carried the holy war into the State of Ohio. 
There he formed new charges and called out young men. 
He in almost every case went before them. They found 
that he gloried in doing the hardest of the work, and his 
example inspired them with the same spirit. M'Kendree, 
like a noble general, was always in the first ranks ; followed 
by such men as Thomas Wilkinson, John Page, Lewis Gar- 
rett, and Jesse Walker. Throughout the length and breadth 
of the West, as far as the country was settled, M'Kendree 
was first in counsel and first in action. If he appeared on 
a camp-ground every eye was upon him, and his word 
was law. In private circles, Quarterly Conferences, and 
Annual Conferences, he was the master spirit." * 

The work continued to spread among the western settle- 
ments. As early as 1803 we find a Methodist missionary in 
that portion of the territory of Indiana now known as the 
State of Illinois. That missionary was Benjamin Young, 
a brother of Jacob Young. " His mission embraced all 
the settlements from the mouth of the Kaskaskia River 
to Wood River, in Madison County." f Mr. Young has 
left a brief record of his toils and trials in his mission. It 
is a letter dated "Indiana Territory, Randolph County, 
J une 1, 1804." He says : "As for the state of religion, it is 
bad. I have formed a circuit, and five classes of fifty mem- 
bers. In some -places there is a revival. About twenty have 
professed to be converted since I came, but the bulk of the 
people are given up to wickedness of every kind. Of all 
places it is the worst for stealing, fighting, and lying. I 

* "Autobiography of a Pioneer." the Rev. Jacob Young. Cincinnati, 1857. 
f " History of Methodism in Illinois,." by the Rev. James Leaton, D.D. 



American Methodism. 



459 



met with great difficulty in coming to this country. I lost 
my horse in the wilderness, fifty miles from any settle- 
ment, and had to walk and hire a horse to go and find 
mine. The Kickapoo Indians had stolen him and Mr. 
Reed's, who was with me, but we got them with cost and 
trouble. When I got to Kaskaskia I preached there, but 
they made me pay two dollars for the room, and twenty 
shillings for two days' board. At last the people began to 
help me. I thank God I can make out, though I have 
suffered with cold. Last winter my clothes were thin and 
worn-out, and I had no money to buy new. I trust I am 
in the way to heaven, and I know my heart is engaged in 
the work of God." * 

As the settlements multiplied in the vast valley of the 
Mississippi, the new Church extended its lines. - Its itin- 
erant missionaries explored the forests and prairies, and 
bore the Cross at the head of immigration. Scarcely 
would new neighborhoods be formed and cabins reared, 
than the Methodist preacher would appear with the offer 
of Christ to the rustic settlers. Thus Methodism became 
the most numerous Church in the States which so rapidly 
rose to greatness and power west of the Ohio. 

Asbury watched with profound interest the enlarging bor- 
ders of the young Church. Though years and infirmities 
increased upon him, he sighed to behold the frontier work, 
and to counsel and inspirit the heroes who there braved 
privations and peril for the cause and glory of the Re- 
deemer. It was not enough that he could write to them 
messages and encouragement. Nothing but a personal 
inspection of the work and direct contact with the laborers 
would satisfy him. When the Church was founded in 
the province of Maine, he longed to strengthen it by his 
presence and ministry there. When it entered the North- 
west Territory, he was restless to be there. With an en- 
thusiasm which never faltered he pushed out to the remote 

* Leatou's Methodism in Illinois." 



460 



Centennial History of 



fields. Tims, at the close of 1802, he wrote : "Should I 
live till the year 1804, and should the Conference be held 
in Maine, I mean to come through to Fort Pitt to visit 
the new State, formerly the North-west Territory. I wish 
to visit the northern and western extremities before I 
die." * 

* Autograph letter. He lived long enough to visit the new State a num- 
ber of times, and to see Methodism become a power in its development. 



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461 



CHAPTER XX. 

GENERAL CONFERENCES OF 1792 AND 1796. 

NO preacher's Journal has been published which in- 
cludes the General Conference of 1796. It was an im- 
portant convocation in the formative days of the Church. 
Therefore it seems desirable that such records of the de- 
liberations of that Conference as exist in manuscript 
should be given to the Church. We therefore insert that 
portion of the Journal of the Rev. William Colbert, brief 
as it is, which contains his record of the first and second 
General Conferences of the new Church. The question, 
indeed, has been projected whether the General Conference 
of 1792 was the first that was convened after the Church's 
organization. As Mr. Wesley requested Dr. Coke to call 
a General Conference in Baltimore, May 1, 1787, and 
desired that it should receive Mr. Whatcoat as a Superin- 
tendent, it has been urged that the Conference held in 
Baltimore in that year was a General Conference. This, 
however, it was not. The request of Mr. Wesley, 
respecting Mr. Whatcoat, came before the Virginia 
Conference. It was opposed by James O'Kelly, but the 
Conference did not approve it. After the Christmas Con- 
ference, until 1792, the District Conferences, as they 
were called, decided such questions as related to the 
government of the Church. Thus the Council was 
authorized by those Conferences when it was submitted 
to them by Bishop Asbury. A measure which received 
the approval of the District Conferences was of legal 
force. In his " Reply to O'Kelly," the Rev. Nicholas 
Snethen introduced the following document as a part of 



462 



Centennial History cf 



his refutation of O'Kelly's allegation that Asbury was op- 
posed to a joint Superintendent ; 

" When T. Coke and Mr. Asbury met in Charleston, 
T. Coke informed him that Mr. Wesley had appointed 
Richard Whatcoat as a joint Superintendent, and Mr. 
Asbury acquiesced in the appointment. T. Coke proposed 
the appointment to the Virginia Conference, and, to his 
great pain and disappointment, James O'Kelly most strenu- 
ously opposed it, but consented that the Baltimore Confer- 
ence might decide it, upon condition that the Virginia 
Conference might send a deputy to explain their senti- 
ments. (Signed,) Thomas Coke. 

41 January 7, U92." 

The Baltimore Conference did decide the matter, and it 
is clear that it was not a General Conference, for if it 
had been such the Virginia Conference would surely not 
have referred the decision of a question to it, on condition 
that a deputy from said Conference should be allowed " to 
explain their sentiments." An Annual Conference cannot 
impose conditions upon a General Conference. 

Furthermore, in his " Apology," Mr. O'Kelly said : 
" Francis proposed for the Baltimore Conference to decide 
the dispute, to which we all agreed." If the Baltimore 
Conference of 1787 was a General Conference, Bishop As- 
bury certainly would not have proposed to a District or An- 
nual Conference the reference of the question of the accept- 
ance of a Superintendent designated by Mr. Wesley to it. 
If there had been a General Conference it would have been 
its province to determine a matter of such moment inde- 
pendently of any instructions from an Annual Conference. 

Again, Mr. Whatcoat's appointment of Superintendent 
was urged by Dr. Coke at the Virginia Conference, as 
if that Conference had an authoritative voice in decid- 
ing it. This he would scarcely have done if a General 



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463 



Conference was to convene so soon. Mr. Bruce has fur- 
nished the following statement in proof: "Mr. O'Kelly 
and myself were the only persons who spoke on the sub- 
ject (at Rough Creek Conference) of receiving a Bishop 
upon Mr. Wesley's appointment. When the doctor pushed 
the subject Mr. O'Kelly told him the more he urged the 
subject the more his fears were alarmed. Mr. Asbury 
never opened his mouth on the subject while it was in de- 
bate. Mr. O'Kelly was to write to the Baltimore Confer- 
ence."* 

It appears entirely clear, then, that no General Confer- 
ence of the Methodist Episcopal Church was held after the 
Christinas Conference until November 1, 1792. 

Of the General Conference of that year the Eev. Will- 
iam Colbert was a member. 

In his Journal in manuscript, now in the hands of the 
author of this volume, he gives very interesting glimpses 
of men and measures as he viewed them at the time. 

Of the General Conference of 1792 he says : 

" Thursday, Nov. 1. General Conference of the Bishops, 
elders, and deacons of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
met in Baltimore. The rules of the house were drawn 
up to-day and few debates about them. 

" Friday, 2. It was moved in the General Conference to- 
day that the power of the Bishop should be so far abridged 
that in case a preacher could make it appear that the Bishop 
in his appointment had injured him, by appealing from the 
Bishop to the Conference, the Bishop should give him an 
appointment elsewhere ; which was seconded and ably de- 
fended by O'Kelly, Ivey, Hull, Garrettson, and Swift, and 
opposed by Reed, Willis, Morrell, Everett, and others. 

"Saturday, 3. The day spent in debate about the 
appeal. 

"Sunday, 4. Dr. Coke preached a delightful sermon 
from Romans viii, 16. In the afternoon O'Kelly preached 

* " Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee." 



464: 



Centennial History of 



on Luke xvii, 5. The power of the Lord attended the 
word. At night Willis preached on Psalm xcv, 10, 11. 

" Monday, 5. The day spent in debate about the appeal. 
It was put to vote, but was not carried. This grieved 
O'Kelly so that he withdrew from the Connection. 

" Tuesday, 6. The Conference undertook the revisal of 
the form of Discipline and the duties of elders, deacons, 
and preachers. From Wednesday, 7, to Thursday, 15, 
except Thursday, 15, forenoon, I attended Conference. 
On Wednesday, 14, James Thomas and I were ordained 
elders and appointed to fill the station of Wyoming and 
Tioga." 

Mr. Colbert's notes of the General Conference *of 1796 
are more full. The business was probably more varied and 
the number in attendance greater. The Journal of Col- 
bert, so far as it relates to the General Conference of 1796, 
is as follows : 

" Thursday, 20. Began the General Conference. At 
night Francis Poythress preached from Hebrews iii, 7, 8, 
and George Roberts, who is an excellent speaker, gave an 
exhortation. 

"Friday, 21. At ten o'clock Thornton Fleming preached 
from Revelation xx, 11-15. At two o'clock the General 
Conference met and the committee brought before it 
several things. That which was debated most was whether 
the probation of the preachers should be lengthened to 
four years, or stand as it does. It was put to vote and 
lost, as it ought to be. So it stands as it was. At 
night Freeborn Garrettson preached on Perfection from 
Hebrews vi, 10. Valentine Cook exhorted after him. For 
two nights the exhorters have been by far the best 
preachers. 

" Saturday, 22. Shadrach Bostwick preached from Ephe- 
sians iii, 8. Solomon Sharp prayed after him with power. 
I gave a quarter of a dollar for the sight of an elephant, 
which I expect I had better given to the poor. The prin- 



American Methodism. 



465 



cipal business this afternoon in the General Conference was 
the subject of the Chartered Fund. 

"Sunday, 23. This morning a love-feast was held, after 
which Dr. Coke preached and John Dickins gave an ex- 
hortation. In the afternoon George Roberts preached a 
powerful sermon in the meeting-house in Old Town from 
1 Peter iv, 18, and a preacher, by the name of Ray, gave 
an exhortation after him. At night Dr. Coke preached in 
the Old Town meeting-house from John xvi, 8-11, which 
was followed by a lively exhortation. 

"Monday, 24. Spent the forenoon in writing, and at two 
o'clock went into the General Conference and heard the 
debate on the Chartered Fund, the Preacher's Fund, and 
the Book Fund, which were all thrown into one. I did 
not attend preaching to-night, but went to the meeting- 
house, and there was a great stir. I have felt better in my 
mind to-day than I have for some time past. 

" Tuesday, 25. Spent in Conference. 

" Wednesday, 26. Debated, How long a preacher should 
travel before he was to be considered eligible to the office 
of an elder? Some wanted it four years, some three years, 
some two years, and some one year. It terminated in 
favor of his eligibility to the office of an elder after travel- 
ing two years after he is deacon, as a preacher travels two 
years before he is a deacon. 

" Thursday, 27. Dr. Coke preached a delightful ser- 
mon from Philippians iv, 4, and John Dickins gave us a 
beautiful exhortation. After the service one of the 
preachers broke out in an ecstasy of joy, which affected 
many. It was a time of a gracious shower. For my part I 
was tendered. 

" Friday, 28. There was much talk about another Bishop, 
and in the afternoon Dr. Coke made an offer of him- 
self. It was not determined whether they would receive 
him ; but to-day I suppose there were not a dozen out of 
a hundred that rejected him by their votes. This gave 
20* 



466 



Centennial History of 



me satisfaction. The afternoon was spent debating whether 
the local deacons should be made eligible to the office of 
elder, and it went against them. At night George Rob- 
erts preached an excellent sermon from Luke xvi, 31, and 
James Tolles gave an exhortation. 

" Saturday, 29. The subject of negro slavery was brought 
forward, and more said in favor of it than I liked to hear. 

" Sunday, 30. This morning heard Dr. Coke preach 
in Light Street from Matthew xxv, 41, and in the after- 
noon at Fell's Point from Isaiah lxvi, 10. It was a time 
of refreshing at the Point. 

Monday, 31. The debate on the subject of slavery re- 
sumed, and when put to vote it went in favor of standing 
as it was. They who hold slaves are to be continued in 
society. 

" Tuesday, Dec. 2. Debated whether we should con- 
tinue in society such as distilled spirituous liquors, and 
whether continue such an order of men in the Church as 
presiding elders ; and when it was ended by a vote, we 
stand as we were. At night Richard Whatcoat preached 
from Colossians i, 21, 22, 23. His sermon was followed 
by an exhortation. 

" Wednesday, 2. Much said on the manner of trying 
members ; whether the members should by the Church [be 
adjudged] guilty or not guilty, or the preacher retain or 
expel them according to his own judgment of the nature 
of their offense. When it was put to vote, it stands as it 
was. Much was also said on the subject of marriage. 
The rule stands with an addition of some explanations. 

" Thursday, 3. An address in the Minutes of 1795-6 
disapproved and the General Conference rose." 

The General Conference of 1796 established, for the first 
time by legislative authority, the boundaries of the An- 
nual Conferences. 



American Methodism. 



467 



CHAPTER XXL 

THE GENERAL CONFERENCE AND REVIVAL OF 1800. 

IN the early part of the year 1800 a great religious re- 
vival was in progress in Cecil Circuit, Maryland, of 
which the Rev. William P. Chandler, a zealous and able 
leader, was then the preacher in charge. The Rev. Will- 
iam Colbert, in his Journal of March 14, 1800, says : 
" Brother Chandler visited us this afternoon and enter- 
tained us with many pleasing anecdotes of the work 
of God in Cecil Circuit." Concerning this work the 
Centenarian of American Methodism, the venerated Henry 
Boehm, communicated orally to the author of this volume 
the following facts, he havino; labored with Dr. Chandler 
on the circuit. 

" The revival," says Mr. Boehm, "began in Cecil Cir- 
cuit, Eastern Shore of Maryland, where Dr. Chandler was 
the preacher in charge. He was a great revivalist. He 
was very powerful in his appeals to sinners and a mighty 
instrument in promoting the work of God. He was wise 
in planning ; judicious, skillful, and effective in executing ; 
so that the revival was under the most able management. 
A great deal depends upon the arrangement of matters in 
revivals, and Chandler was a general. The work spread 
through the whole peninsula ; over many counties it 
rushed like fire. Every- where there was intense excite- 
ment. Chandler, as the master spirit, went to and fro 
preaching and guiding the movement. The meetings at 
numerous places were held daily. People frequently fell, 
as if pierced through the head by a bullet. I was an 
actor in this remarkable revival, and I have seen strong 
men, in attempting to go out of the meeting, fall as if slain 



468 



Centennial History of 



in battle. Dr. Chandler was the first I knew to adopt the 
plan of inviting seekers to the mourner's bench. * I was 

* The Mourner's Bench, is invested with most sacred associations in 
American Methodism. At the mourner's bench multitudes found the peace 
of God. The word "altar" conveys the same idea in this day, and it is 
employed in all or nearly all revivals in the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
The question is of some interest, when and by whom was the practice of 
inviting awakened persons to the mourner's bench introduced? It is prob- 
ably not possible to answer that question with certainty. The Rev. Jesse 
Lee gives, in his Journal, the following record: October 31, 1798, in Vir- 
ginia, he says : " At Paup's meeting-house Mr. Asbury preached on Eph. 
v, 25. 26, 27. He gave us a good discourse. Then I exhorted, and the power 
of the Lord was among us. Many wept and some cried aloud with deep 
distress. Then Miles Harper exhorted and dismissed the assembly. The 
class was desired to remain. Brother Mead began to sing, and in a little 
while many were affected and a general weeping began, John Easter pro- 
claimed aloud, 1 1 have not a doubt but God will convert a soul to-day.' 
Vie preachers then requested all that were under conviction to come together. 
Several men and women came and fell upon their knees, and the preachers 
for some time kept singing and exhorting the mourners to expect a blessing 
from the Lord, till the cries of the mourners became truly awful. Then 
prayer w r as made in behalf of the mourners, and two or three found 
peace." Mr. Boehm witnessed the gathering of penitents at a place or seat 
to which they were invited as early as about 1800. At a meeting in 
Delaware, mentioned by the Rev. William Colbert, the mourners were 
invited " forward." Mr. Colbert says: "After love-feast, Brother Cooper 
preached under the shades from Acts ii. 4. Caleb Boyer exhorted after 
him, but to a restless congregation. He spoke on the subject of a collec- 
tion that was made. I sang and made some observations on the disorderly 
behavior of the congregation and went to prayer. After prayer I called 

UPON THE PERSONS IN DISTRESS TO COME FORWARD and look to the Lord 

to convert their souls. Numbers came forward, and repaired to the meet- 
ing-house, where we spent some time with them in prayer and left them 
engaged." This was Sunday, May 24, 1801, in Delaware. Mr. Colbert gives 
another instance of invitation to penitents on April 18, 1802. The house 
at St. Martin's, he says, " before we got there was crowded, and a very large 
number out-of-doors. We fixed a table at the door, and Brother Ryan 
preached from 1 Peter ii, 25. Brother Boehm spoke after him with great 
power, and after him I spoke. I thought it very remarkable that the people 
stood so long in the rain to hear the word of God. It continued raining 
during the public meeting. It kept us back with our love-feast a long 
time. Seeing no prospect of better weather in a seasonable time, afrer 
waiting long, we requested the people to depart that we might hold our 
love-feast. A blessed time we had. Many spoke feelingly, and a great 



American Methodism. 



469 



engaged in the work when this was done. It was a great 
advantage because, with the seekers scattered all through 
the congregation, it was difficult to give them suitable at- 
tention. By bringing them together they were accessible 
to those who desired to instruct and encourage them. In 
the early part of the revival I saw twelve men kneel at 
the mourner's bench, and they were all quickly converted. 
One of them was Lawrence Laurenson, for many years an 
able minister of the Philadelphia Conference. 

" The meetings were characterized by great earnestness 
and feeling. Sometimes the excitement would arrest the 
preaching, the people crying for mercy and the Christians 
praying and talking to the mourners. The conversions 
were generally very clear. Often the converts would rise 
and praise the Lord ; sometimes they would shout aloud, 
and sometimes be melted into silence and tears. Into this 
work the whole membership entered. I have often seen 
members on their knees agonizing in prayer for a deeper 
work of grace, and then rise and shout as if just converted. 
The members labored among the people in the congrega- 
tion, exhorting and pointing them to the Saviour. Several 
thousand souls were gathered into the Church on the penin- 
sula during this great revival, and among the converts were 
many leading families, who became pillars of the Church. 
From Cecil Circuit, where the work began, it spread to 
Baltimore." 

On the 6th of May, 1800, the third General Conference, 

number of mourners came to join us in prayer when the invitation "was 
given. Glory to God ! there was a glorious display of power. Several rose 
up praising the Lord." The Rev. Henry Smith says: "In looking over my 
diary I find the following notice: 'Sunday, May 29, 1803, I preached at 
Frontrayel. I met the class, having invited all who wished to serve the 
Lord to stay with us. Eight or ten did so. After I had spoken to the 
class I opened a door to receive members into the society. None seemed 
disposed to join. I then proposed to pray for those who were mourning to 
Know the love of God if they would come forward and kneel down. Eight 
or ten came.' " 



470 



Centennial History of 



after the one at which the Church was organized, was con- 
vened in the city of Baltimore. The business of the Con- 
ference and the revival progressed together. The awaken- 
ing, according to Mr. Boehm, began in Baltimore as a result 
of persons from that city attending a quarterly meeting on 
Cecil Circuit. When they returned they took the fire with 
them. The General Conference gave an impulse to the 
movement. The members entered heartily into the work. 
The divine influence fell upon the congregations with 
overwhelming effect. Some would fall to the floor, others 
to their knees. At times the excitement threatened to 
break up the business of the Conference. It swept over 
the whole city, and many were saved. * 

Preachers from various sections of the country were 
at the General Conference. Mighty leaders of the Church 
were there. Philip Bruce, a graceful and yet powerful 
preacher, who " excelled in the application of Gospel 
truth," and whose " appeals were often irresistible," was 
there. It is said that Bishop Asbury, in Winchester, Vir- 
ginia, once said to Bruce : " Philip, I intend to pile up the 
brush to-night, and you must set it on fire." When the 
pointed, plain sermon of Asbury was finished, " Bruce 
arose and delivered a most powerful exhortation, which 
told with overwhelming effect upon the congregation. 
The Bishop's brush-heap blazed at the touch of Philip's 
torch." f Ezekiel Cooper, whose youthful voice sounded 
the Gospel invitation in the marvelous revival in Balti- 
more, in 1789, was there. Nicholas Snethen, Jesse Lee, 
Richard Whatcoat, Laurence Mansfield, Thomas Lyall, 
Jonathan Forrest, George Pickering, Ephraim Chambers, 
William Ormond, Lasley Matthews, Daniel Fidler, 
Thomas Morrell, John Chalmers, George Roberts, John 
Bloodgood, William P. Chandler, Lawrence M'Combs, 

* These statements I wrote from the lips of the Rev. Henry Boehm in the 
latter part of 1874. His recollection of those events was quite clear, 
f Bennett's " Methodism in Virginia," p. 182. 



American Methodism. 



471 



John M' Claskey, Thomas F. Sargeant, William M'Ken- 
dree, William Burke, and others were there. With such 
men of might to lead the conquering forces, it is not 
surprising that Baltimore trembled during that General 
Conference, nor that they spread the hallowed fire abroad 
as they went forth from that Jerusalem of Methodism. 

The Journal of Mr. Colbert gives but a few glimpses of 
the revival scenes in Baltimore. Indeed, his record of the 
work of the General Conference is meager. Yet he opens 
to our view some of the events and actors of that great 
occasion. He says : 

" Tuesday, 6, [May, 1800.] Our General Conference 
commenced. The day was spent in making the rules 
of the house. At night Jesse Lee preached on Luke 
xix, 27. 

" Wednesday, 7. Brother Whatcoat preached on 1 Chron- 
icles iv, 10, after which Dr. Coke gave us a very glorious 
account of the work of God in Ireland. 

" Thursday, 8. I attended the Conference, but did not 
go to preaching at night. 

"Friday, 9. Yesterday was the day we voted for a 
Bishop,* and to-day was kept as a day of fasting and prayer 
on that occasion. At night Dr. Coke preached on Genesis 
v, 24. 

u Saturday, 10. A very warm debate took place to-day 
on a very important subject — whether the new Bishop 
should have as much power in the government of the 
Church as the old Bishop — being a motion of Laurence 
Mansfield. It was. as it ought to be, rejected, as having a 
decided tendency to divide the Connection. f 

"Sunday, 11. This forenoon Bishop Asbury preached 

* Mr. Colbert, no doubt, means that the Conference voted to add another 
Bishop to the episcopal force. 

f The Journal of the General Conference of 1800 says, page 36 : " Brother 
Mansfield moved that the Bishops shall have full and equal jurisdiction 
in all and every respect whatever." 



472 



Centennial History of 



on James i, 25, in the meeting-house in Light Street. In 
the afternoon Thomas Lyall preached at Mr. Otterbein's 
on 2 Peter i, 5 : 'Add to your faith, virtue. 5 His powers 
of oratory are great, indeed. * At night Dr. Coke 
preached. 

"Monday, 12. This morning was elected that venerable 
old man, Eichard "Whatcoat, to the office of a Bishop in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church. There were one hun- 
dred and fifteen votes, of which he had fifty-nine. Jesse 
Lee, fifty-six." f At night I heard Philip Bruce preach 
part of a sermon. After him Brother Higby gave an ex- 
hortation. One woman professed to be converted. 

" Tuesday, 13. Much time has been spent to-day on a 
system of finance. At night Jonathan Forrest, an old 
veteran, gave us a sermon on Matthew iv, 17. After him 
Brother M'Combs gave an exhortation. A great work 
broke out ; eight or ten professed to be converted. Ephraim 
Chambers preached in the afternoon at Friend Bruff's. 

" Wednesday, 14. A motion passed into a law that a 
suspected member should be allowed a trial by jury. 

" Thursday, 15. After taking a morning walk, the sub- 
ject of negro slavery was debated, but nothing done to 
purpose. 

" Friday, 16. N~egro slavery debated again to-day in 
Conference, but nothing done further than agreeing on 
drawing up an address to the State legislators. At night 
I heard Brother Hardesty preach on Psalm cxix, 126. 
Brother Timmons gave an exhortation. 

u Saturday, 17. There was a long debate to-day in the 

* Mr. Lyall subsequently withdrew from the Church and became an Epis- 
copal rector in the city of New York. 

f The Journal of the General Conference gives the votes of this election as 
follows: " The Conference proceeded to the election of a Bishop; the first 
poll being a tie, and supposed defective. Upon the second there were fifty- 
nine votes for Brother Richard Whatcoat, fifty-five for Brother Jesse Lee, 
and one blank ; the whole number of voters being one hundred and fif- 
teen : whereupon Brother Richard Whatcoat was declared duly elected." 



American Methodism. 



473 



Conference on the subject of making local deacons eligible 
to the office of elders, but did nothing. 

Sunday, 18. This morning wet ; Dr. Coke preached a 
sermon in Light Street meeting-house on Revelation ii, 3. 
In the evening I drank tea with Dr. Coke, Philip Bruce, 
George Pickering, and Thomas Lyall at John Chappell's^ 
where I lodged, ISTo. 39 Bridge Street. At night I heard 
Ezekiel Cooper preach at Light Street meeting-house an 
excellent sermon on Matthew xxiv, 14. 

" Monday, 19. The forenoon was taken up on the book 
business ; and the greater part of the afternoon in a debate 
on the subject of marriage ; but the old rule stood by a con- 
siderable majority.* William Ormond preached at night. 
At the time of prayer a great shout broke out. 

" Tuesday, 20. In Conference the order of the day was 
the book business, with which the General Conference 
closed. At night I heard Lasley Matthews preach on 
Jeremiah viii, 20 : ' The harvest is past,' etc." 

It appears that a number of the preachers continued at 
Baltimore after the adjournment of the General Conference, 
engaged, perhaps, in the work of the revival. On Sunday, 
the 25th, the Conference having closed the Tuesday pre- 
ceding, Mr. Colbert, who had been absent from the city, 
was again there, and says : " I heard Dr. Coke preach 
three times to-day : in the morning at Light Street meet- 
ing-house on Colossians iii, 3, 4 ; in the afternoon at Fell's 
Point on Matthew vi, 20, 21 ; and at night on Matthew 
vi, 33, at Old Town. In the morning Thomas Morrell 
sung and prayed for him ; in the afternoon Philip Bruce, 
and in the evening myself." f 

Bishop Whatcoat, in his Journal, notices the revival that 
prevailed during the General Conference. He says : " We 

* That rule forbade the marriage of a member of the Church with an ir- 
religious person. The fathers of the Church would have no fellowship with 
the world. 

f The Rev. William Colbert's Journal in manuscript. 



474 



Centennial History of 



had a most blessed time, and much preaching, fervent 
prayers, and strong exhortations through the city, while 
the high praises of God resounded from street to street, 
and from house to house, which greatly alarmed the citi- 
zens. It was thought that not less than two hundred 
were converted during the sitting of our Conference." 

Mr. Colbert was at the notable Duck Creek Conference 
which began a few days after the close of the General 
Conference, and there the revival scenes were extraordi- 
nary. Indeed, at that Conference the spiritual interest was 
absorbing. The revival, which had swept over Cecil 
Circuit and into Baltimore, burst out at the Conference at 
Duck Creek (now Smyrna, Delaware) marvelously, and 
spread abroad over the land. The new Church now en- 
tered upon a period of triumph and of glory far surpass- 
ing, in the extent of its results, any which it had previously 
known. At Duck Creek Mr. Colbert says : 

" Sunday, June 1. I heard Bishop "Whatcoat preach an 
excellent sermon from Revelation xi, 18, after which we 
had a good love-feast. 

" Monday, 2. Opened Conference. At night Brother 
Turck was to preach, but they shouted too much for him 
to get the opportunity. 

" Tuesday, 3. David Bartine * preached at night on 
1 Thessalonians v, 19. There was a great shout almost all 
night. 

" Wednesday, 4. A warm debate in Conference on 

* Mr. Bartine was the father of the late eloquent Dr. David Wesley Bartine, 
whose pleasing and powerful proclamation of the G-ospel has thrilled and 
moved great audiences at camp- meetings, dedications, etc., in New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Maryland, Indiana, and Illinois. Of 
handsome person, melodious voice, fine imagination, fluent utterance, excel- 
lent diction, graceful manner, warm sensibilities, and cultivated intellect, he, 
for more than forty years, adorned the pulpit of Methodism, and was the 
instrument of the salvation of many souls. On his death-bed, in Trenton, 
New Jersey, he said, "All is bright above," and " it is the old, old story, 
of Jesus and his love." He died August 13, 1881, 



American Methodism. 



475 



where the next Conference shall be. A petition was pre- 
sented and headed by the governor of the State of Dela- 
ware in favor of its being at Duck Creek and Dover. L. 
M'Combs, J. Lee, W. P. Chandler, and Foster were in fa- 
vor of the petition ; Cooper, Chambers, Robertson, Kindle, 
Justis, Bartine, and myself against it. Left undetermined. 
At night Eichard Swain preached on Romans viii, 1. 

" Thursday, 5. It was decided that the Conference 
should be at Philadelphia. The votes were f orty-hve.* At 
night we had a glorious meeting. 

" Friday, 6. We had happy meetings to-day. Thank 
God ! Souls have been converted. The meetings held 
till near two o'clock. 

"Saturday, 7. I preached in the meeting-house on 
Matthew xxv, and part of the 34th verse. Three pro- 
fessed to get converted. The meeting held till near two 
o'clock. 

u Sunday, 8. A glorious day. Joseph Everett preached 
in the morning on 2 Corinthians, v, 19. In the afternoon 
Johnson Dunliam preached on Romans v, 9. William 
Bishop exhorted. At night Ephraim Chambers preached 
on Revelation ii, 17. One hundred and eight have joined 
society. Brother Chandler beat up boldly for more vol- 
unteers for the Lord." f 

Bishop Whatcoat, in his Journal, speaks of the wonder- 
ful work of the Lord at this Annual Conference. He 
says: "On the first of June, we held a Conference at 
Duck Creek Cross Roads, in the State of Delaware. This 
was a glorious time. Such a spirit of faith, prayer, and 
zeal rested on the preachers and people, that I think it ex- 
ceeded any thing of the kind I ever saw before. O the 
strong cries, groans, and agonies of the mourners ! Enough 

* This indicates that the number of preachers at this Conference entitled 
to vote was about forty-five. 

f This expression indicates that Chandler, fresh from the victories of Cecil 
Circuit, was foremost in directing the revival at the Duck Creek Conference. 



476 



Centennial History of 



to pierce trie hardest heart ; but, when the Deliverer set 
their souls at liberty, their ecstasies of joy were inexpress- 
ibly great, so that the high praises of the Redeemer's 
name sounded through the town, until solemnity appeared 
on every countenance ; the effect of which was that, on the 
Thursday following, one hundred and fifteen persons joined 
the society in that town, while the divine flame spread 
through the adjacent societies." 

On the 20th of June, 1800, George Kinard wrote the 
Bishops from Duck Creek concerning the work there: 
" On the Sabbath after you left here," he says, "about one 
hundred and nine * came forward and begged to be ad- 
mitted to our society. They were directed to meet two 
days after, to be taken in, when they and six others joined 
society, many of whom were soundly converted to God, 
and the principal part of the others deeply penitent and 
seeking for mercy. Two others have since applied, mak- 
ing in all one hundred and seventeen souls in and around 
this little village. We had previously joined fifty souls 
since the commencement of the new year, making the 
whole one hundred and sixty-seven. We have now about 
three hundred members in this small town, and the work 
still going on. Who can calculate the great good done at 
our last Conference, when we discover such prodigious 
advantages to the inhabitants here ? There is also a great 
ingathering in all the societies near this place." 

The revival soon became general. East, west, north, 
and south, the displays of grace were glorious. Jonathan 
Jackson, who was presiding elder of a district in Yirginia, 
which included the circuits where the pentecostal visitation 
of 1787 was enjoyed, wrote, August 20, 1800, to the Bishop : 
" I have been round the district, and, glory be to God ! I 
have seen very good and gracious times in all the circuits. 
In many parts of Bertie and Cumberland they have great and 

* Colbert, as we have seen, gives the number definitely as one hundred 

and eight. 



American Methodism. 



477 



powerful times. Many have been awakened and added to 
the Church ; I expect not less than two hundred. The 
preachers were all much engaged in the Lord's work. The 
local preachers in general seem to be very zealous and 
useful." 

From New England there were also grateful tidings. 
John Broadhead, one of the presiding elders, wrote Sep- 
tember 19, 1800, that " on every circuit * there is some 
revival." 

The work in New England seems to have been coincident 
in its origin with the great revival in Maryland. Shadrach 
Bostwick, a powerful evangelist, wrote, three weeks before 
the dawn of the year 1800, of " the most glorious times I 
have seen in New England." He describes scenes similar 
to those which occurred in the South. " At our Middle 
Haddam quarterly meeting," says Mr. Bostwick, " which 
was the first for this circuit this year, the Lord came down 
in mighty power. Many were struck and fell from their 
seats prostrate upon the floor, crying in bitter agonies, 
some for converting and others for sanctifying grace. It 
happened well that Brother M'Combs and myself had been 
formerly favored with such scenes in the South, and well 
knew what to do. The New London friends carried the 
flame into the city, and this brought on a quickening there. 
About sixteen members joined in one day and many more 
in the circuit. Old Tolland Circuit, that formal, dry one, 
has taken the start. Our first quarterly meeting was at 
Hartford, five miles. The power of the Lord came down 
and scarcely left a dry eye in the house ! Two or three 
professed to be converted, and five continued on their 
knees, begging for mercy, for near three hours.f The 
work has spread rapidly in South Wilbraham. About 
twenty souls have been brought into liberty there, and still 
the Lord is working. We have a little society there. Our 

* Broadhead probably spoke only of his own district. 

f This scene, in 1799, is suggestive of the mourner's bench. 



478 



Centennial History of 



second quarterly meeting in that circuit was in North 
Wilbraham chapel, and truly it was a time of joy and re- 
joicing. Three professed to be converted, and the whole 
congregation appeared to be melted into tears. The work 
has so increased and enlarged that we have made a four 
weeks' circuit of it." * 

Brodhead, in his report from New England in the fall 
of 1800, says that "at Vershire quarterly meeting the 
Lord was present indeed. At this meeting there were 
about fifteen hundred people. On the Sabbath we had to 
preach in the open air. Several found Jesus, and others, 
who had already believed, were filled with his power. At 
Wethersfield we had a good time. The work had begun 
on that circuit. A goodly number have joined. At Ches- 
terfield quarterly meeting some appeared to be awakened. 
I have heard since that seven have been converted in that 
place. At Pomfret quarterly meeting the power of the 
Lord was felt indeed, and one or two found peace with 
God. New London quarterly meeting was still greater. 
Sinners were awfully alarmed, and I think four professed 
to find the Lord. At Tolland quarterly meeting it was a 
great time. The Saturday meeting lasted till three o'clock 
on Sabbath morning. Some professed to experience sanc- 
tification, and during the quarterly meeting several were 
awakened. I believe much good was done." 

The revival continued in the South, especially in the 
Peninsula, " pervading the whole " of it, says Thomas 
Ware. Ware was, in 1800, placed in charge of the district 
which comprised that large territory. He says the re- 
ligious excitement attending this wonderful work was 
" the greatest I ever saw in an itinerant life of more than 
forty years. To describe the scenes I witnessed at Back 
Creek, Smyrna, Dover, Chestertown, Centreville, Easton, 

* "Extracts of Letters containing some Account of the Work of God since 
the year 1880. Written by the preachers and members of the Methodist 
Episcopal Church to their Bishops." New York, 1805. 



American Methodism. 



479 



Cambridge, Milf ord, and Lewistown,* would far exceed any 
ability I ever possessed. Should it be inquired, ' What 
could draw thousands of all ranks to attend the above-named 
places, and spend at some of them one whole week in acts of 
devotion, forgetful of all worldly concerns ? ' I reply, They 
came expecting to find the Lord there, and their expecta- 
tions were realized to their joy and entire satisfaction. Re- 
turning from these extraordinary meetings, they told what 
they had seen, heard, and felt. By this means similar ex- 
pectations were excited in others, who came also, and these, 
in their turn, went their way and reported that the half had 
not been told them. 

" This work was confined to the Methodists. There 
were but few clergymen of any other denominations with- 
in the bounds of our district, and not one of these, to my 
knowledge, joined heartily with us. They did not offer 
much opposition, nor was it worth their while so to do. 
The tide set too strongly in the Methodist channel to be 
diverted by their joint efforts into another, or to be re- 
tarded in its rapid course. 

" Lewistown had long been to us very inaccessible ; but 
now at length a cry arose among the inhabitants of this 
dissipated town, ' What must we do to be saved ? ' It was 
at a quarterly meeting held there in the summer of 1801. 
At this meeting there were present a large number of the 
inhabitants of Lewistown. Our subject on Sunday was 
' Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.' 
Dr. Chandler followed with an exhortation, when many 
were prostrated on the floor." 

From this well-fought field Ware had already written, 
March 4, 1801, a dispatch of victory : " I have now been 
three times around my district," he says, " and have had an 
opportunity of knowing the people with regard to times and 
seasons. I have not known a people, take them collect- 

* Some of these towns are in the State of Delaware. The others are in 
Maryland. 



480 



Centennial History of 



ively, so completely Methodized as these. "What would 
they not have been had slavery never been introduced 
among them \ On Dover, Milford. and Somerset we 
have had about fifteen hundred added siuce Confer- 
ence." * 

The glorious movement continued also in Baltimore. That 
zealous and powerful leader of the victorious hosts, George 
Roberts, remained at his post during the summer of 1S00, 
notwithstanding the prevalence of the deadly epidemic of 
yellow fever. December 11, of that year, he writes from 
Baltimore : " God has spared me through a perilous affliction. 
Hundreds fell on my right hand and on my left. Noth- 
ing but a sense of duty prompted me to stand at my post. 
When I reflect upon the sweet communion I had with 
God, and that our church was the only one open for wor- 
ship ; that hundreds flocked to hear me that never were 
accustomed to our church before, and the most of them 
continued steady hearers ever since ; when I look around 
now at our congregations and find in Light Street that we 
have more than two thousand steady hearers, while the 
houses of other denominations are comparatively deserted ; 
when I reflect that a few in the tremendous hour of death 
were hopefully set at liberty to praise the God of their 
salvation ; finally, when I think of the testimony of some 
that I was serviceable to their bodies as well as their souls 
when they were deserted by their dearest friends in that 
dreadful hour, I do not regret that I stayed in the city, but 
feel thankful to God who inspired me with the resolution." 

Brave men, indeed, were those Methodist preachers, 
who not only dared the savage-infested wilderness, but also 
the perils of the pestilence-smitten city. Xo grander 
heroes are found in the records of martyrs than Dickins, 
who, in Philadelphia, encountered one yellow-fever scourge 
after another, until he fell with the plague at his post, ex- 

* That is, since the Duck Creek Conference, where the work was so great 
a: i:s session in June IS GO. 



American Methodism. 



481 



claiming, " Glory ! glory ! " and Eoberts in Baltimore, who, 
in pulpit and at bedside, continued to preach Christ Jesns 
amid the awful perils of the pestilence ; and who, when 
at last he came to die in that same city, shouted so 
loudly his Redeemer's praise that his son suggested that he 
had better not thus exhaust his strength, but whisper. 
The triumphant hero answered : " Let angels and arch- 
angels whisper, but had I a voice of seven thunders I 
would awake all the inhabitants of Baltimore and tell them 
the greatness of redeeming love." 

It is not wonderful that infidelity quailed and fell before 
the assaults of such men of God ; nor that, under the di- 
rection of apostolic leaders like Roberts, who counted not 
their lives dear unto themselves, the Methodist revival 
movement spread and triumphed over the land. 

Philadelphia shared in this great refreshing. Roberts 
wrote, near the close of 1800 : " In Philadelphia, it is said, 
there is a very great revival of religion, and that near one 
hundred have been added to the society in two weeks." 
In October, 1801, the Rev. Richard Sneath wrote from 
Philadelphia, saying: January 25, 1801, at St. George's, 
after Mr. Cooper had done preaching, I invited all the 
mourners to come to the communion table* that we might 
pray particularly for them. About thirty professed to be 
converted, and twenty-six joined the society. The next 
night a love-feast was kept at Ebenezer. Eighteen per- 
sons joined the society. Divine power descended upon 
the people. Many struggled in the pangs of the new 
birth, others were in agony of prayer for full sanctifica- 
tion. Our brethren were employed in praying for the 
mourners or in holding up the feeble minded. I believe 
upward of twenty-three were truly converted. Many of 
the old professors were stirred up and felt the purifying 
fire of divine love. The work continued till the Confer- 
ence on the first of June. During these seven months 

*See foot-note, p. 468. 

21 



482 



Centennial History of 



I joined to the society between five and six hundred 
members." * 

In Baltimore, says Roberts, "we have a considerable 
ingathering. More or less are hopefully converted every 
week." At the close of 1800 the Rev. Wilson Lee writes : 
" In Baltimore the work is moving on. They have great 
and good times." Lee, who was the presiding elder of 
the district which included Baltimore, wrote the 18th of 
March, 1801 : " From what I can gather from preachers 
and leaders, there have been more than one thousand, in 
the winter and summer past, within the lines of this dis- 
trict, and the work is still moving on in power. The 
preachers appear to be drinking into the spirit of the work, 
and the old friends follow on in love. It would have done 
your heart good to have seen the old friends weeping and 
praising God with a loud voice when the work of the 
Lord broke out in Shippensburg, the last visit. I want 
you to know the Lord is building up the waste places in 
Zion by raising up young men, full of faith and the Holy 
Ghost, and sending them out in his cause. We have 
crowded houses. I never saw the people turn out to 
hear preaching so generally. All glory to God ! " 

The revival spread widely in the South. The Rev. 
James Jenkins wrote from South Carolina, June 30, 1802 : 
" Hell is trembling and Satan's kingdom is falling. 
Through Georgia, North and South Carolina, the sacred 
flame amidst all the opposition is extending far and wide. 
I may say with safety that hundreds of sinners have been 
awakened and converted this year in the above-named 
States." 

From Tennessee also came glorious tidings. The 
Rev. John M'Gee wrote from Cumberland Settlement, 
October 27, 1800: "In the latter end of August a 
quarterly meeting was held at Edwards's Chapel, on the 
Cumberland side of the ridge, where myself, with four or 
*"Arimnkm Magazine,"' 1803, p. 3*73. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



4-S3 



five of my brethren of the Methodist ministry were pres- 
ent, at which time many cried aloud from the bitterness 
of their souls for mercy. A few struggled into spiritual 
life, while many went away with burdened and sin-sick 
souls. The next Friday began another sacramental meet- 
ing on the ridge, about ten miles from the above place. 
This was the most glorious meeting that ever my eyes be- 
held. It continued four days and nights, during which 
time, from the best accounts we have collected since, there 
were more than one hundred souls converted to God. It 
was truly affecting to hear the groans of the spiritually 
wounded intermingled with the shouts of heaven-born 
souls. Two weeks after was another sacramental meeting 
on Bllidsoe's Creek, called Shiloh sacrament. Here was 
great opposition, chiefly from old professors and deists ; 
nevertheless, the Lord worked like himself in power. Sin- 
ners were cut to the heart and, falling to the ground, cried 
for mercy as in the agonies of death, or from the brink of 
hell, till God spoke peace to their souls ; then, rising from the 
earth with angelic countenances and raptures of joy, gave 
glory to God with a loud voice. The number converted 
we are not able to ascertain, but, from the best calculation, 
there could not be less than sixty or seventy souls. There 
have been two other meetings since, at each of which there 
were a goodly number of souls brought in. This work is 
the Lord's, and to his great name be all the glory. Amen 
and Amen." 

The victories were indeed glorious in the West. M'Ken- 
dree writes, October 10, 1801 : " We have an addition of 
three thousand two hundred and fifty. Thus we find that 
our labors in the Western Conference have been in some 
degree blessed this year." 

The Rev. Thornton 'Fleming, November 27, 1802, says : 
" Our last quarterly meeting upon the Ohio Circuit was a 
time of great power. The work of the Lord began on 
Saturday night and continued until the breaking of day 



484 



Centennial History of 



upon Sabbath morning. Three professed sanctifying 
grace and several were converted. Sabbath day, at the 
supper of the Lord, the power of God came down to my 
astonishment. I was an eye-witness to the conversion of 
souls. Indeed, you might look in almost every direction 
and you would see poor sinners, and the worst of all sin- 
ners — backsliders — crying to God for mercy." 

In the State of New York the revival spread. William 
Colbert sent a report of victory from his hard field— the 
Albany District, in the fall of 1802 : " On Herkimer Cir- 
cuit, on Sunday morning, a little heaven was opened in 
love-feast, after which we were enabled to speak with a 
degree of life and power. At the close of the administra- 
tion of the sacrament the Lord made bare his arm, and sin- 
ners were convicted, backsliders were reclaimed, mourn- 
ers were converted, and many brought to struggle for full 
redemption in the blood of Jesus. The meeting began at 
eight o'clock in the morning, and such was the engaged- 
ness of the people that it did not end until the setting of 
the sun on the twentieth." 

New Jersey shared in the great awakening. William 
Mills wrote, June 7, 1802 : " The work of God continues 
to revive, and a general alarm has taken place. In Rock- 
away Yalley the work is powerful, and many are added to 
the Church. The Lord is threshing the mountains and 
driving sinners from their lurking places to seek a shelter 
in the Rock of Eternal Ages." 

Thus over the country the revival swept ; from all parts 
of the land rose the shoutings of the triumphant hosts who 
were pushing on the battles of the conquering Captain of 
their Salvation and gathering rich spoil for heaven. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



485 



CHAPTER XXII. 



THE OLD CAMP-MEETINGS. 

E saw the New Church, at the opening of the nine- 



W teenth century entering upon a period of mighty 
spiritual conflict and triumph. The ecclesiastical organi- 
zation had then been only fifteen years in existence, but the 
zealous and unceasing efforts of its laborers were now to be 
rewarded with unparalleled success. At its baptism, as a 
newly -born Church in Baltimore, in 1784, American Meth- 
odism, as has been shown, numbered about fifteen thousand 
members. At its new baptism, in Baltimore, during the 
General Conference of 1800, its membership numbered 
nearly sixty-five thousand. In fifteen years, notwithstand- 
ing the serious losses resulting from the O'Kelly agitation, 
its communicants had more than quadrupled, and, there- 
fore, it met the new century in the flush of success and 
with the prestige of victory. 

A revival of spiritual Christianity was then the urgent 
need of the nation. Infidelity and indifferentism were 
prevalent, if not dominant, in much of the country. The 
old English deism had been planted but too effectually in 
the new world, and the French skepticism which reveled 
in blood had dashed its crimson and destructive waves 
against these western shores. The prominence and power 
of the infidels of the old world reacted adversely to Chris- 
tianity here. Paine's " Age of Reason " was read and 
applauded, and the learned and wealthy were too often 
indifferent or unfriendly to the Bible. The orthodox 
denominations generally were deficient in aggressive re- 
ligious power, and, indeed, religious apathy and skepticism 
had wide sway in the young republic. 




486 



Centennial History op 



A great change, however, was destined to occur. In 
obscurity God had been preparing a new Church for the 
great exigence of the new nation. In the tires of opposi- 
tion and persecution lie had tested it, and he had refined 
and hallowed it in pentecostal flames. He had given to it a 
ministry composed mostly of young men of apostolic spirit 
and character, who counted not their lives dear unto them, 
so that they might finish their course with joy ; a ministry 
who braved the wintry blast and the torrid sun, the scorn 
of men and the malice of demons, the fatal pestilence and 
the bloody tomahawk, as in city and in wilderness they 
hurried in pursuit of perishing sinners; a ministry which, 
though not greatly polished by literary culture, was 
" mighty through God to the pulling down of strong- 
holds." An invisible hand now hurled that divinely- 
anointed ministry and Church, against the haughty and 
defiant phalanx of indifference, skepticism, and sin. 

" At the head was Francis Asbury, a revivalist preach- 
er, whose revival zeal had not abated, though he was en- 
feebled by disease and age, and who brought to the front 
young men who went into the work w r ith alacrity and joy. 
If they halted, he found means to quicken their pace. 
He seemed to have an instinct for religious feelings akin 
to what Scripture calls discerning of spirits. A large 
amount of religious joy was outwardly manifested. Hun- 
dreds who felt no interest in infidelity needed precisely 
this kind of evidence of the reality of religion. They 
could understand the testimony of men to their own re- 
ligious joys better than argument. It was like the testi- 
mony of the blind youth whose sight was restored : ' One 
thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.' 

" The great accession of members to the Church, as the 
fruit of the revival, not only weakened the cause of infi- 
delity, but did a great amount of indirect good. The old 
Churches were roused into activity. It was charged that 
this great Methodist revival was fanaticism. That could 



American Methodism. 



487 



not be, as fanaticism is cruelty united with religious zeal. 
It was not cruelty, but happiness, joy fulness. Their cry 
was, 4 Come to the waters, come ! ' ' O, taste and see that 
the Lord is good ! ' Their chief regard was to the religion 
of the heart. It was at first controversial preaching. The 
matter in dispute was antinomianism and formality, but it 
was soon turned against sin and the sinner. The father of 
Methodism insisted upon ' Repentance toward God, ' faith 
toward the Lord Jesus,' 6 present salvation from sin,' £ as- 
surance of acceptance with God through the witness of 
the Spirit,' as the leading points of experimental and 
practical religion. The uniform teaching of so many 
preachers in quick succession had a more confirming effect 
upon the minds of the hearers. They used language 
which reached the understanding of the many." * 

This arousing evangelical movement of Asbury and his 
laborers gave to the republic its first general and power- 
ful spiritual awakening. It made religious thought and 
feeling pervasive, if not dominant, in the nation. White- 
field's labors had produced marked effects in some places. 
The previous revivals of American Methodism had been as 
the rumble of distant thunder betokening the gathering 
tempest. Now there was a general outburst of spiritual 
power which, like the timely rain upon the withering 
verdure, produced a sudden and happy change in the 
religious aspect of the country. As its result, multitudes 
were enrolled upon the lists of Church members ; the 
churches were warmed into fervor, and roused to effort and 
enterprise ; education and benevolence received a strong 
impulse ; organizations for evangelical work sprang into 
existence ; Bible, missionary, and tract societies were 
organized ; Sunday-schools were introduced, and the Church 
in America rose into a prominence and power which 
placed it in the van of the regenerating forces of Christen- 
dom. 

* The Rev. Nicholas Snethen — unpublished works. 



488 



Centennial History of 



Asbury, the greatest religious chieftain of the nine- 
teenth century, was sleepless in superintending and inspir- 
iting his forces. We find him on the western frontiers, 
then in the South, and then quickly in the Eastern and 
Middle States. Over the republic he swept disposing the 
forces, shouting to the charge, and sending dispatches from 
the field of victory. One such dispatch, by Asbury, from 
South Carolina, which has not found its way into type, lies 
before the author of this volume. It is dated December 31, 
1802, and says : " Surely God is great and gracious to our 
Church, and others also. Our preachers are collecting for 
Conference in Camden. Not a preacher cometh but we 
hear of good tidings of revivals of religion. At a meeting 
held at Harrisonburg,* which began at my appointment 
there last August — the meeting held nine days — one hun- 
dred and seven joined in the vicinity of the town, besides 
many country subjects of grace. Norfolk and Portsmouth 
towns [Virginia] have had a revival since August of two 
hundred added, and the work is going on. Baltimore 
District, Wilson Lee calculated upon an addition of two 
thousand in about seventeen months. In the Western 
Conference, three thousand. In this Conference [South 
Carolina and Georgia] we comfort ourselves we shall 
have an addition of, we hope, two thousand. In old Vir- 
ginia, in the three Districts of Alexandria, Richmond, 
and Norfolk, good news ! " f 

Bishop Asbury pressed the Church forward to advanced 
ground in religious experience while he was leading the 
general charge upon the fortresses of sin. In this same 
epistle he says : "lam greatly comforted to hear the work 
of sanctification is prosperous with you, as also in Mary- 
land, east and west. We have not sufficiently preached 
that part of the Gospel West and South. Indeed, that we 
believe we ought to preach in a candid and Christian man- 

* The tirst letter of this name is formed like a W. I do not doubt, how- 
ever, that it was intended to be written Harrisonburg. f Autograph letter. 



American Methodism. 



489 



ner, even Christian perfection and Christian baptism. But 
we should always keep a Christian temper of mind ; ob- 
serve as much forbearance as we can to those that differ 
from us." * 

Of the special means that were employed in this wide- 
spread revival the camp-meeting was chief. It was a means 
never extensively employed in Christian propagandism 
until it was called widely into use during the great relig- 
ious movement in America which began with the nineteenth 
century. It is, indeed, claimed by the historian of Meth- 
odism in South Carolina that camp-meetings were held in 
North Carolina near the close of the last century. He 
says : " The first Methodist church in North Carolina, west 
of the Catawba River, was built in Lincoln county, in 1791, 
and was called Rehoboth. Before the erection of this church 
the congregation was accustomed to worship in the grove in 
the midst of which it was built, and these meetings in the 
forest resulted in great good and were often continued 
throughout the day and night. In 1794 the leading male 
members of the Church consulted together and agreed to 
hold a camp-meeting in this forest for a number of days 
and nights. The meeting was accordingly appointed, and 
was conducted by Daniel Asbury, William M'Kendree, 
Nicholas Watters, and William Fulwood, who were effi- 
ciently aided by Dr. James Hall, a celebrated pioneer 
preacher among the Presbyterians in Iredell County. 
The success of this first camp-meeting, at which it was 
estimated that three hundred souls were converted, led to 
the appointment of another the following year at Bethel, 
about a mile from the famous Rock Spring ; and subse- 
quently of yet another by Daniel Asbury and Dr. Hall, 
which was known as the great Union Camp-meeting, at 
Shepherd's Cross Roads, in Iredell County. The manifest 
blessing of God upon these meetings resulting in the con- 

* Autograph letter of Bishop Asbury in possession of the family of the 
Rev. William Colbert. 
21* 



490 



Centennial History of 



version of hundreds of souls, gave them great favor with 
the Presbyterians and the Methodists, and caused them 
to be kept up continuously in the South Carolina Con- 
ference." * 

The camp-meeting has commonly been believed to have 
resulted from the great sacramental meetings held by the 
Presbyterians, and participated in by the Methodists, in 
Kentucky and Tennessee about the close of the last century. 
Dr. Shipp, however, states that "John M'Gee, whose 
name is associated with the origin of camp-meetings in 
the West," was for years a traveling preacher in the 
South ; he " located in 1793, and remained in a section of 
country where camp-meetings had become well known and 
popular until 1798, when he removed and settled in Sum- 
ner County, in Tennessee. It was a great service rendered 
the Church at large when he transferred these meetings 
from the Catawba Eiver to the banks of the Eed River, in 
Kentucky, and the Cumberland River, in Tennessee, and 
five years after their origin made known practically to 
the western country an instrumentality by which, under 
the blessing of God, thousands were brought to the knowl- 
edge of salvation." f 

Bishop Asbury promptly and skillfully appropriated 
whatever agency in his view promised to promote the 
progress of the Church. He saw in the camp-meeeting 
such an agency. His sagacious mind perceived quickly 
how it could be employed in advancing the revival that 
was spreading over the land. As early as the close of 
1802 he wrote: "The South Carolina and Georgia camp- 
meetings have been blessed to the souls of hundreds, and 
have furnished members to the Methodists, Presbyterians, 
and Baptist Churches." J 

This statement of Asbury is suggestive of united effort 

* Shipp's " History of Methodism in South Carolina," p. 272. 
f "Methodism in South Carolina," p. 272. 
% Autograph Letter of Asbury. 



American Methodism. 



491 



by the three denominations he names in the work of camp- 
meetings. It is, indeed, clear that such meetings were 
employed by the Presbyterians in that day. The Rev. 
Mark Moore wrote, in the same month the above statement 
of the Bishop was written, that " about the second Sab- 
bath in July [1802, probably] the Presbyterians appointed 
a camp-meeting at the Grassy Spring, upon the Tyger 
River, to which the Methodists were invited and made wel- 
come. The people collected on Friday and formed a 
small square camp in a well-covered forest. Here we had 
a season of mercy indeed. On Friday afternoon there 
were some tokens of the Divine presence. On Saturday 
afternoon several were struck to the ground and made to 
cry bitterly for mercy. Sabbath afternoon was also a 
gracious season. Some were laid low by the power of 
God, and several professed justification. The old Meth- 
odists' children shared largely in the blessings of this 
meeting." 

Asbury eagerly seized upon this novel but potent agency 
for advancing revivals, and promoted its extension. He 
saw that it had a great adaptation to develop spirit- 
ual results. He wrote of it in words which show that 
he understood its philosophy as early as 1802. " I think 
well of large meetings," he says; "camp and quarterly 
meetings. The more preachers to preach and pray, and 
so many of God's people, and so many people that 
need conversion, and so many of the children of God's 
children present, we may hope for great things in the 
nature of things."* Nine years later, namely, in 1811, 
he wrote : " Our camp-meetings, I think, amount to 
between four and five hundred annually, some of which 
continue for the space of six or eight days. It is sup- 
posed that it is not uncommon for ten thousand persons, 
including all who come at different periods, to be pres- 
ent at one of those meetings. On such occasions many 

* Autograph letter of Bishop Asbury. 



492 



Centennial History of 



become subjects of a work of grace, and many experience 
much of the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit. 
Backsliders are restored, and the union of both preachers 
and people is greatly increased."* Thus, in a few years 
from the time Asbury adopted the camp-meeting as an 
arm of the Church, he saw its effects throughout the 
land in swaying multitudes toward heaven. When, in 
1802, he wrote of it approvingly, the Methodist Episcopal 
Church numbered eighty six thousand seven hundred 
and thirty-four members. When, in 1811, he wrote of 
the great number and success of the camp-meetings, the 
membership of the Church had grown to one hundred 
and eighty -four thousand five hundred and sixty-seven. 
In other words, the membership had in those nine years 
doubled, with an excess beyond of ten thousand members. 
The sagacity of Asbury and the promptness and ear- 
nestness with which he extended this new agency 
are shown by the following statement of Mr. Zachary 
Myles, of Baltimore, to his brother, the Rev. William 
Myles, of London, January 11, 1803: "Mr. Asbury was 
present at some of the camp-meetings in Carolina and 
Georgia. Two hundred wagons came with people aud 
provisions, and they stayed together nine days in the 
woods, during which time religious exercises continued 
day and night. Mr. Asbury wrote word to our preachers 
to make preparation for the erection of a camp within two 
miles of this city at our next Conference in April." In 
August, 1804, Asbury wrote to Mr. Myles of his purpose 
concerning their further extension. He says: "We are 
about to introduce camp-meetings in the State of JSTew Jer- 
sey and New York, which will commence, please God, next 
month, and, we hope, will be attended with a blessing." f 
Many of the camp-meetings held in the life-time of As- 
bury and subsequently were among the most extraordinary 

* " Arrainian Magazine," London, 1812, p. 316. 
| "Arrainian Magazine," London, 1805, p. 46. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



493 



religious occasions of the century. They were great in 
respect of the multitudes assembled, the sacred eloquence 
displayed, and the religious' results achieved. There was 
an impressiveness about the worship in the forest temples 
that moved the pious mind to intenser devotion and sub- 
dued the gay and the trifling to serious thoughtfulness. 
Tens of thousands were converted by the direct instru- 
mentality of camp-meetings, and thousands more through 
their indirect influence. The novelty of this form of re- 
ligious aggression attracted vast numbers who were in- 
different or averse to public worship, and many who 
" went to laugh remained to pray." 

The first camp-meeting in Maryland was, it is said, pro- 
jected by the Rev. Nicholas Snethen, in 1803. Mr. Sne- 
then had observed the camp-meeting in the South the 
previous year. Mr. Zachary Myles wrote his brother in 
1803 of Mr. Snethen's views of the Southern camp-meet- 
ing : " Mr. Snethen says, 4 The scene by night was solemn 
and novel. The lofty trees, and the light from the differ- 
ent fires, with the stands for preaching, were awfully 
pleasing. Fifteen of our preachers were present, besides 
Baptist and Presbyterian ministers. All were engaged at 
once on religious subjects, and many happy conversions 
took place.' " 

One of these meetings in Georgia, in 1802, is de- 
scribed by the Eev. Stith Mead, in a letter to the Bishop. 
" Your appointments," he says, " were formed into a joint 
camp-meeting witli the Presbyterians, which commenced 
on Thursday, the 11th, and closed Monday, November 
15th, near Lexington, Oglethorpe County. The outlines 
of this encampment were near a mile around. The first 
day was mostly taken up in pitching tents, some cutting 
down trees, some carrying off, others raising boards. 
About noon I was directed to open the meeting, which I en- 
deavored to do from Revelation xiv, 6, 7, at one stage, and 
Henry Moss at the other. Friday night the bounds of the 



494 



Centennial History of 



ground were thickly stowed with camps. The number that 
attended on this occasion is computed from eight to ten 
thousand, the number of carriages at two hundred and fifty ; 
preachers, twenty -five ; Methodists, fifteen — itinerants, five; 
local, ten ; Presbyterians, four ; Episcopalians, one ; Bap- 
tists, five. The conversion of souls began on Friday night, 
and the exercise increased day and night during our stay 
on the ground. It is impossible to ascertain with any de- 
gree of precision the number converted on this occasion, 
but I suppose from one hundred to one hundred and fifty. 
Many at the close, unable to help themselves, were put 
into wagons and carried home." Mr. Mead states that 
there had previously been several camp-meetings in Geor- 
gia, " where Jehovah presided in majesty and power, and 
many were brought to God." 

From Carolina the Rev. Jonathan Jackson, presiding 
elder of the Newbern District, wrote, December 16, 1803 : 
" The greatest times we have had have been at our camp- 
meetings. Great pains have been used to prevent irregu- 
larities and disorder, which has so far won the hearts of the 
people to them that they want camp-meetings almost 
every-where. It is impossible to tell the good that has 
been done at them ; for while some have been crying for 
mercy, others shouting the praises of the Most High, there 
would not be a sinner found who would open his mouth 
against the work. In the lower part of the district we 
have had the greatest seasons that have ever been seen." 

Of the reputed first camp-meeting in Maryland, in 1803, 
of which Nicholas Snethen was the chief originator, glow- 
ing descriptions have been given. It was an occasion of 
extraordinary spiritual power. The presiding elder of 
the district, the Rev. Wilson Lee, said of it : " There was 
a glorious season at the camp-meeting at Reistertown." 

The eloquent Samuel Coate was at the time stationed in 
Baltimore, and attended this camp-meeting, which was 
held in Taggart's woods, near Reistertown, about fifteen 



American Methodism. 



495 



miles from Baltimore. Some of the most important work 
of his extraordinary ministry seems to have been done at 
camp-meetings, and he graphically described this noted 
camp-meeting of 1803. Mr. Coate says : " It began on 
the 24th of September, and continued three days and 
nights with scarcely an hour's intermission. It was held 
in a grove or forest, in a very retired situation, with only 
one blind road leading to it. There was a stand erected 
in the midst of a piece of ground containing three or four 
acres, and round this the tents, wagons, carts, coaches, 
stages, and the like, were arranged in a circular form. 
Fires were kindled in the front of the tents to accommo- 
date those who lodged in them. The number who en- 
camped on the ground were not more than two or three 
hundred. This was owing partly to fear of catching cold, 
and partly to a prejudice they had taken against camp- 
meetings. From these considerations it is possible we had 
not as many preachers as we otherwise should have had, 
but there were twenty or more traveling and local. 

" Our number on the week-days was from one thousand 
to fifteen hundred, and about five thousand or upward on 
the Sabbath. Although there were so many, I never saw 
better order in a crowded concourse in any place. It ap- 
peared that they were awed into reverence, for although 
there was a great shout of a King in the camp, I turned my 
eyes in every direction over the whole multitude, and 
could scarcely perceive a smile upon one countenance. 

" The order of our religious exercises was as follows : A 
horn was blown in the morning to collect the people to a 
general prayer-meeting at eight o'clock. Preaching was 
at ten o'clock in the afternoon, and at night. One ser- 
mon was preached at each time, and two or three exhorta- 
tions were delivered. Many fell down slain with the 
sword of the Spirit, and groaned like men dying in the 
field of battle, while rivers of tears ran down their cheeks. 
We had a number of souls blest on Saturday and through 



496 



Centennial History of 



the Sabbath ; but on the evening of the Sabbath and the 
Monday following were the most glorious times my eyes 
ever saw. If w T e spoke to any of the by-standers they were 
melted down like wax before the fire. I seldom if ever 
saw a more remarkable hungering and thirsting after holi- 
ness of heart among the professors. They were deeply 
and powerfully convinced of the necessity of sanctification, 
and this greatly increased the convictions among sinners. 
O, my brother, if you had been there, you would have been 
pleasingly astonished ! On the one hand you would have 
seen a poor sinner leaning with his head against a tree 
with tears running from his eyes like drops of rain upon 
the ground and somebody going and pointing him to the 
Lamb of God upon the cross. On the other hand you 
would have seen a whole group of people, and from the 
midst of them you w T ould have heard the piercing out- 
cries of the broken-hearted penitent ; and to turn your 
eyes in another direction you would see a gray-headed 
father and his children crying to God to have mercy upon 
their souls. In the meantime you would have seen some 
groaning under as deep distress and agony of heart to be 
cleansed from all unrighteousness as ever you saw any un- 
der the guilt of unpardoned sin. I could have led you 
from that to a place where the divine blessing was mani- 
fested similar to the glory which appeared in the taber- 
nacle of the congregation when the wandering Israelites 
fell upon their faces and shouted. It w T as a tent filled 
with happy souls, to the number of fourteen or fifteen, who 
had either been converted, sanctified, or had received some 
remarkable blessing that day. -While standing near that 
favored spot you would have beheld a sight enough to 
transport the mind of an angel. The crowd parting, you 
would have seen three or four persons advancing toward 
you bearing along a poor heavy-laden sinner, who had been 
lying helpless upon the ground, groaning bitterly to 
Heaven, being overwhelmed with sorrow .of heart and the 



American Methodism. 



497 



dreadful onsets of guilt and fear. You would have seen 
him or her, with the head on one shoulder, borne along 
by the arms, with the tears streaming copiously, crying, 
' Lord, save, or I perish — save, or I sink into hell ! ' At 
length, in one of those highly favored tents where the 
glory of God was manifested, God would break the bars 
of iron, cut in sunder the gates of brass, set their souls at 
liberty from every bond and fetter, and fill them with a 
holy triumph. In the meantime the song of the Lord 
would be raised in such melodious melting strains from 
every glad heart and tongue that for a few minutes you 
would be so absorbed in contemplation and lost in the vis- 
ion of God's presence, that you would imagine yourself 
already in paradise. Llosannah in the highest ! 

" 'Prayer ardent, opens heaven, let3 down a stream 
Of glory on the consecrated hoar 
Of man in audieuce with the Deity.' 

" No human language is sufficient to describe the joyful 
emotions that were raised on that occasion, and the glo- 
rious displays of the power of saving grace. I was in- 
formed that there were not three minutes one whole night 
but they were in the exercises of singing or prayer. So 
it continued nearly through the whole meeting, except 
in time of preaching. As to the number that were con- 
victed, converted, and sanctified, we cannot certainly de- 
termine, but we may be safe in conjecturing .that there 
were as many as one hundred or upward." 

Mrs. Fanny Lewis, who was the daughter of the Rev. 
Joseph Toy, a minister of the Baltimore Conference, and 
an instructor for a time in Cokesbury College, describes this 
camp-meeting also, and of the last day she says : " On Mon- 
day morning there was such a gust of the power of God 
that it appeared to me the very gates of hell would give 
way. All the people were filled with wonder, love, and 
praise. Mr. S[nethen] came and threw himself in our 



498 



Centennial Histoky of 



tent, crying, < Glory, glory ! this is the happiest day I ever 
saw ! ' He says he never knew such a continual power 
and increase of the love of God for three days and nights. 
He calls it 'the happy Monday.' Yes, it was a happy, 
happy Monday ; a day long to be remembered, and a night 
never to be forgotten. Nor was our parting less glorious 
than our meeting. Several received perfect love after 
the meeting broke up. They were under the necessity of 
dismissing the people for want of preachers ; all that were 
present were worn out. 

" Those w T ho were absent know not wmat they have lost, 
nor can they form any idea of what we enjoyed. It was 
none other than the gate of heaven. 

" Where, O where shall we begin to praise redeeming 
Love for the peace and comfort and assurance our souls 
felt in realizing the promises of an unchangeable Jehovah. 
Camp-meeting ! The very name thrills through every 
nerve, and almost makes me think I am in the charming 
woods. Every foot of ground seemed to me sacred. I 
saw nothing, heard nothing to molest my peace. .Not one 
jarring string. Every thing seemed to combine to pro- 
mote the glory of God and his Gospel." 

The biographer of the Rev. Nicholas Snethen states that 
in introducing the camp-meeting into Maryland Mr. 
Snethen proceeded adversely to the counsel of his brethren. 
The result, however, vindicated his course. Of the meeting 
Snethen wrote, and his descriptions of it are among the in- 
teresting historical documents of the Church. He says : 
" The congregation on Sunday was vast indeed. About 
noon the work became visible and general in that part of 
the crowd where the Christians stood. Three o'clock on 
Monday morning put a period to the public exercises. We 
all welcomed the first dawn of the day with joyful hearts. 
O happy day ! O day of mercy and salvation never to be 
forgotten ! Twice I fell prostrate upon the stand beneath 
the overwhelming power of saving grace. The day is 



American Methodism. 499 



canonized, it is memorable in the Church to numbers as 
the happy Monday, the blessed 26th of September, 1803. 
The number converted cannot be ascertained ; but all will 
agree that there were a hundred or upwards who were 
subjects of an extraordinary work, either of conviction, 
conversion, or sanctification." 

Nicholas Snethen was one of the greatest pulpit orators 
of the Church in his day. Before he entered the itinerancy, 
in 1794, he was a member of the class of John Dow, a 
well known local preacher, in Belleville, New Jersey. The 
first four years of his ministry were spent in New En- 
gland. He was then directed by Bishop Asbury to go 
South, and was appointed in 1799 to Charleston. In 
the beginning of 1800 Asbury selected him as a travel- 
ing associate and assistant. The Bishop playfully called 
Snethen "his 'silver trumpet,' in reference to his far- 
reaching, melodious, and silver-toned voice. 1 ' * 

The General Conference of 1800 appointed a committee 
to take in charge the material which Asbury had collected 
for a reply to O'Kelly's attack upon him and the Church. 
Snethen was a member of that committee and prepared 
the " Keply." He also published a second pamphlet in 
answer to the Rejoinder which his first missive called 
forth from O'Kelly. He thus appeared as the champion 
of the young Church in its first warfare against the foes 
of its own house. The Rev Dr. Le Roy M. Lee says : " A 
careful examination of both of Mr. Snethen's works has 
left us without surprise that the schism was arrested." f 

Snethen filled a large place in American Methodism. 
Bishop Whatcoat makes the following record in his Jour- 
nal : " November 1, [1801,] Nicholas Snethen preached 
morning and afternoon at Augusta, [Georgia.] The peo- 
ple were greatly attracted by Brother Snethen's preach- 
ing." Snethen was a chief leader in the agitation in be- 
half of lay delegation, and, after the adverse action of the 

* Unpublished Life of Snethen. f " Life and Times of Jesse Lee," p. 276. 



500 



Centennial History of 



General Conference of 1828 on that subject, he withdrew 
from the Church and became one of the founders of the 
Methodist Protestant Church. He located finally in 1814, 
and died May 30, 1845. 

Snethen and Coate, who labored together in Baltimore, 
in 1803, and whose efforts were united at the first camp- 
meeting in Maryland, the same year, were a host. Their 
zeal and their eloquence contributed to the success of 
camp -meetings in the first years of their history. 

We have seen that Asbury proposed that the camp- 
meeting should be introduced into New Jersey and New 
York in the year 1804. In September of that year Mr. 
Snethen, who was then stationed in the city of New York, 
appeared upon a camp-ground at Carmel, Dutchess County, 
in that State, where his labors were exceedingly effective. 
Mr. F. Ward was an eye-witness of that camp-meeting, 
and he says : "The converting work began with a prayer 
of Mr. Snethen's, and under his many sermons and exhor- 
tations it ran like a fire through the congregations, that 
numbered on different days from fifteen hundred to seven 
thousand people. After one of his discourses, from ' God 
be merciful unto us, and bless us ; and cause his face to shine 
upon us,' the cries of the people prevented any further 
preaching, and the whole of that night the Lord wrought 
wonderfully, sinners trying to fly from the light of his 
face, but falling down and unable to escape. 

" At the close of another of his sermons from ' Though we 
walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh,' the God of 
battles was indeed present, and took the work out of the 
hands of the ministers, and so wrought that they could only 
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. On the occasion 
of the Lord's Supper Mr. Snethen exhorted with such lib- 
erty and force that bursts of rapture shook the grove, and 
tears of joy flowed down every believer's face." * 

* " The Life of Nicholas Snethen, the Methodist Preacher. By his son, 
Worthingtou a. Snethen." This biography has not been published. 



American Methodism. 



501 



Among the preachers whose eloquence contributed to 
the attractiveness and usefulness of the early camp-meetings 
was Leonard Cassell, of the Baltimore Conference. Mr. Cas- 
sell was a very young man and, before he was twenty-five 
years old, died of yellow fever. His " success in the minis- 
try fully answered to his fame." He possessed rich gifts 
of imagination and " an easy, graceful elocution. His was 
the rare talent which renders every subject it touches not 
only vivid but transparent. He appeared in the pulpit as 
free from redundancies as defects. The piety of this truly 
popular preacher was as unsuspected 'as unimpeachable. 
The most admirable traits in his character, and which se- 
cured to him the public confidence, was his unaffected 
modesty and humility. That must have been an uncom- 
monly temperate mind which could bear without intoxica- 
tion so many expressions of public praise and delight. We 
have never heard it whispered that he showed any symp- 
tom of self-gratulation." * 

This remarkable young preacher was born in Frederick 
County, Maryland, April 1, 1784; entered the itinerant 
ranks in 1802 ; and departed in triumph, September 26, 
1808. " In person he was of middle size, spare, and well 
made. His features were prominent and accurate, his hair 
auburn, and complexion fair, with sparkling blue eyes. In 
mind, conduct, and usefulness he was truly a great man. 
Considering his age, not twenty-five years, and his educa- 
tion, which was very limited, he may be said to have been 
a prodigy of genius. A subject dark and mysterious would 
shine in his hands like the meridian sun. His style was so 
easy, elevated, and pure, that every word seemed to be ex- 
actly fitted to the idea he intended it should convey. He 
was eminently useful and universally beloved. His voice 
was generally pitched to that key which indicates earnest- 
ness rather than loudness. 

" At a certain camp-meeting I attended with him, the men 

* " Wesleyan Repository," vol. i. 



502 



Centennial History of 



of the most gentlemanly appearance became disorderly. 
On Saturday afternoon Mr. Cassell was called to the 
stand. He began in his best style. In a few minutes he 
arrested universal attention. He had not proceeded far 
before tears, sobbing, agitations, and cries became general, 
and the impulses of his eloquence seemed to redouble at 
every sentence. The gentry, who had crowded around and 
were standing in mute astonishment, finding themselves 
within the range of his well-directed fire, commenced a 
retreat. At that moment he challenged them to keep 
their ground, and in a manner, perhaps, never before 
equaled, even by himself, he exclaimed, ' Give me fifteen 
minutes more, and then, sinner, run if you can.' Their 
imaginations were already too much troubled. Their only 
trust for safety was in flight." * 

The Rev. William Colbert was at the great camp- 
meeting at " the head of Wye " in August, 1807. He 
states that he reached the ground on Sunday afternoon, 
" on which thousands were assembled, while Leonard Cas- 
sell, from the city of Annapolis, was preaching. He is a 
good speaker, and what he said was much to the purpose. 
He was on the 6 one thing needful.' It appears that this 
is one of the greatest meetings ever held by the Methodists 
in America. Many hundreds, we have the best reason to 
believe, have been converted." f 

The camp-meeting which was held on the Wye camp- 
ground, in Queen Anne County, Eastern Shore of Mary- 
land, in August, 1809, is historic. At that time Snethen 
was stationed at Fell's Point, and was invited to attend 
this camp-meeting. In it he was a leader, and the effect 
of his eloquence was marvelous. The late Judge Phile- 
mon B. Hopper, of Maryland, was there, and has pre- 
served some of its remarkable incidents. He says : " The 
encampment numbered about three hundred tents, and 
the daily congregations several thousands. For the first 

* 41 Wesleyan Repository," vol. i. f Colbert's manuscript Journal. 



Ameeican Methodism. 



503 



few days the meeting was not marked by any unusual dis- 
plays of spiritual power, but they were the days of prepara- 
tion. The Sunday came. On that great day of the feast Mr. 
Snethen arose and cried with his clear voice, ' Holy breth- 
ren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle 
and High-priest of our profession, Christ Jesus.' Then 
pausing, until all eyes were fixed upon him, he lifted up his 
voice again in utterance of the text, and this time with such 
trumpet-like distinctness as to fill every ear in the grove. 

" Having thus gained the attention of his hearers, he 
plunged with them at once right into the middle of his 
subject, and for thirty or forty minutes he so wrought 
upon their sympathies that both preacher and congrega- 
tion seemed like one being — thinking, reasoning, feeling 
alike, and mounting together upon the swelling tide of 
enthusiasm which carried the preacher upward and onward 
until, all at once, overwhelmed with the glory of his theme, 
he suddenly fell in the pulpit, exclaiming, as he fell, 
i Glory ! ' Quickly recovering and rising to his knees, 
his voice was heard again in tones of agony, beseeching 
the people to fly to Christ, and while thus exhorting them 
he fell backward, clapping his hands, and shouting i Glory ! 
glory ! ' At this moment the venerable presiding elder, 
John M'Claskey, stepped forward and took up the exhor- 
tation, but he had not gone far before he also fell to the 
floor. Eobert Sparks * next essayed to speak, but ere he 
had uttered a dozen sentences, he, too, fell. 

"By this time the feelings of the vast congregation 
became uncontrollable, and burst forth in shouts of joy, 
mingled with cries for help, penitent sinners crying 

* Robert Sparks was admitted on trial in 1785. He was irreproachable 
in character, and especially successful in originating and promoting revivals. 
He was not considered an eloquent or popular preacher. His travels as an 
itinerant were. extensive. In one of his last public exercises he declared 
that he was looking for death every day, but was happy in G-od. He with- 
drew from the Church in 1829 and united with the Methodist Protestant 
Church. He died in Maryland, August, 1S31. 



504 



Centennial History of 



aloud for the pardon of their sins and the people of God 
rejoicing and pointing them to Christ. 

" Finding that none of the preachers could keep their 
feet in the pulpit, Lawrence M'Combs * leaped from the 
stand, and clasping a dog-wood sapling that stood near one 
of the mourner's benches to keep himself from falling, 
continued, with great power, the exhortation to the people 
to repent, and invited the mourners to come forward to 
the seats of prayer. Immediately there was a rush for the 
mourner's benches, which were speedily filled, and from 
that moment to the close of the meeting there was nothing 
done but to thrust in the sickle and gather the harvest ; 
and an abundant one it was, for over five hundred people 
were converted to Christ." f 

In the same year that these marvelous scenes occurred in 
Maryland — 1809 — and probably in the same month, there 
was an extraordinary manifestation under the preaching 
of Samuel Coate, at a camp-meeting in Bowers's woods, 
in the neighborhood of Salem, New Jersey. Mr. Coate 
was an exceptional orator, and was at the time stationed in 
Montreal. A Canadian authority says of Coate that "he 
was unboundedly popular and very useful. . He was evi- 
dently a very extraordinary person for such a day and 
country. He swept like a meteor over the land and spell- 
bound the astonished gaze of the wondering new settlers. 
Nor was it astonishment alone he excited. He was the 
Heaven anointed and successful instrument of the salvation 
of hundreds. His success in the early part of his career 
was truly Whitefleldian." 

The preaching of Mr. Coate, and the effect it produced 
at the camp-meeting in Bowers's woods, New Jersey, in 

* Lawrence M'Combs was admitted on trial in 1192, and died June 11, 
1836. Of commanding presence, excellent voice, and chastened imagina- 
tion, he was a remarkable preacher, and exercised extraordinary power over 
multitudes at great camp-meetings. 

f " The Life of Nicholas Snethen," in manuscript. 



Amebic an M eth odism. 



505 



1809, is tlms described by a competent observer :* " The 
Rev. Samuel Coate, among many other preachers, was there. 
He was the greatest preacher I ever saw or heard. One 
sermon lie preached I shall never forget. It was on the 
resurrection and the judgment, the appearance of the 
white throne, etc. He sounded the trumpet and the 
trembling earth gave forth its unnumbered millions, while 
the ocean rolled its inmates to the shore. Death and hell 
gave up their victims, all taking their course toward and 
standing before the great white throne ; all trembling to 
hear the fiat of God, the terrible Judge. The grandeur, 
the sublimity, the eloquence of this description can never 
be forgotten. All eyes were fastened upon him. Stream- 
ing tears attested the depth of feeling. He then threw 
open the portals of the mansions of bliss and crowned the 
happy righteous with glory, gave them palms of victory, 
and harps of heavenly melody, with which they praised the 
Lord for redeeming love. Then, moving to the front of 
the stand, the preacher began to drop the wicked into hell, 
and at last, with a mighty effort, plunged the whole of 
the condemned, death, hell, and all, into the abyss of eternal 
woe ! Such an effect I never saw nor heard before nor 
since ; such screams and cries for mercy ; such praying and 
shouting all over the vast assemblage of the camp-ground 
from all classes, for all were affected. Many of the Society 
of Friends were there, and many of the most wealthy and 
respectable inhabitants of the surrounding country. Gen- 
eral Shinn and Samuel Dorr, Esq., declared they had heard 
that day the greatest display of sublime eloquence attended 
with Divine power they ever heard. Charles Jones, a 
Quaker, became soundly converted, sprang upon a stump, 
and preached to the people. He told them he had been 
greatly deceived in thinking he had religion ; but he never 

* Judge James Newell, an eminent local preacher of Salem County, New 
Jersey, it is believed was the writer of this graphic account. It is found 
in Rnybold's "Methodism in West Jersey." 



506 



Centennial History of 



had it until then. Himself and all his family became Meth- 
odists. The most respectable persons were down on the 
ground rolling among the leaves or prostrate among the 
seats, and a general surrender to the Lord seemed to pre- 
vail throughout the encampment. An old Friend I stood 
near during the sermon wept abundantly. At the close he 
turned to me and said, ' Thee has some great speakers in 
thy society. I never heard the like before.' 

" This was a great day for Methodism. It took a posi- 
tion in Salem County and adjoining counties it never oc- 
cupied before ; a place not merely among the poor and 
illiterate, but the educated and influential. How many 
were added to the Church I cannot say, but numbers were 
converted on that ground. However, the sermon of 
brother Coate came near proving fatal to me. I had been 
trying to preach for some time, but after hearing that 
sermon I was brought to the conclusion that I had been 
deceived, that I could not preach, and so would never try 
again ; for if such a preacher could not convert the world, 
it was no use for me to try." * 

Previous to this great effort of Mr. Coate he had visited 
England. In a letter to the Rev. Joseph Benson, of Lon- 
don, dated Montreal, October 23, 1809, he speaks of the 
results of this sermon preached a few weeks previously. 
Coate says : " I have lately been in the United States and 
attended some very great camp-meetings ; one in the State 
of Delaware, on the ground belonging to the old governor, 
Mr. Bassett ; another, near Salem, New J ersey ; a third, 
in the upper part of New Jersey, near Trenton ; and a 

* I clearly remember hearing; a description of this wonderful sermon of 
Coate from Mr. John Dailey, of Pittsgrove, New Jersey, who heard it. 
Mr. Dailey was a brother of the late Rev. David Dailey, of the Philadel- 
phia Conference, and father of the late Rev. Jacob P. Dailey, of the New- 
ark Conference. He had heard some of the greatest camp-meeting orators 
of America, but I was impressed by his statements (though young at the 
time) that he ranked the sermon of Coate at Bowers's woods camp-meeting, 
in 1809, with the very greatest displays of sacred eloquence he had ever heard. 



American Methodism. 507 

fourth at Croton Biver, in New York State, at all of which 
meetings the Divine presence was singularly manifested, 
and I think, by what I felt and saw myself, as well as 
from what I have since heard from others, my poor labors 
were crowned with as great success at some of those meet- 
ings as ever they were at any time of my life before. At 
Salem, it was said, forty or fifty were awakened under one 
sermon, the greater part of whom joined the society. 
This circumstance was a great comfort to me, for I have 
not been able to preach often. I have not had any dis- 
position to be exalted, but rather to give all the glory to 
Him from whom every good and perfect gift is derived, 
and who can make use of the feeblest instrument to effect 
his purposes of grace toward bis intelligent creatures." * 

At the old Fountain Head camp-meeting, in Tennessee, 
Valentine Cook, the gift to the itinerancy of Cokesbury 
College, preached a remarkable sermon in 1818. Of that 
sermon a hearer says: "While reading his first hymn, 
4 Awake, Jerusalem, awake,' the assembly was much 
moved. The text was, ' If the righteous scarcely be saved, 
where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear ? ' The 

* Coate's letter to Benson, "Arminian Magazine," London. Samuel Coate 
was born in Burlington County. New Jersey. He was instrumental in the 
conversion of his brother, Michael Coate, who also became eminent in the 
Methodist ministry. Samuel was admitted to the itinerancy in 1794. 
The Rev. Dr. Laban Clark says of Samuel Coate that "lie was a remarkably 
elegant, accomplished preacher, and combined in his manner a high degree 
of both force and beauty." He located, in impaired health, in 1810. He 
spent the last years of his life in England. It is said that there, in wander- 
ing about the country selling an engraved specimen of ornamental work 
which he made with the pen, he became also a wanderer in a sadder sense. 
He, however, returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of souls. Carroll, in his 
work on " Case and his Contemporaries," says : " The late eminently pious 
Rev. Dr. Harvard, for some years President of the Canada Conference, told 
us that he had the mournful pleasure of ministering to Coate in his last 
sickness, in England, where he died, and that that gifted and interesting 
man, when his heart was overwhelmed within him, fled to the 1 Rock that 
was higher than ' he. Upon that Rock he found firm footing in the 1 swell- 
ings of Jordan.' " 



508 



Centennial History of 



character of the righteous was drawn at full length. The 
picture was complete and transcendently beautiful. Then 
came the dark shadings. The difficulties and dangers of 
the way ; the trials and temptations, afflictions, and perse- 
cutions incident to the Christian life were held up in all 
their fearful aspects. The character of the sinner was 
now brought to view. There was something so fearfully 
startling in the delineations, that I felt myself insensibly 
drawing back from the scene as it was passing in review 
before me. Every eye was fixed and every ear was opened 
to catch the words of eternal truth as they rolled in thrill- 
ing torrents from his almost-inspired lips. No human 
tongue, untouched by flames fresh from the altar of God, 
could have spoken as he did. No language can adequately 
describe the scene that followed. The whole assemblage 
was in tears. Sinners were crying to God for mercy, 
while the saints of the Most High were shouting aloud for 
joy. Many souls were converted before the meeting closed. 
A great revival succeeded in all that section." 

Thus, by means of its camp- meetings, Methodism found 
great access to the people. Its plain and generally small 
churches, school-houses, barns, and domiciles were inade- 
quate to such large labors and achievements. In the 
woods, beneath the beautiful fretwork of leaves and the 
high, cerulean dome, all classes were attracted to hear the 
Gospel, and under its faithful presentation by anointed 
itinerants the Spirit was poured out from on high. The 
rushing pentecostal power swayed the vast crowds that 
thronged those sylvan temples, and swept them by thou- 
sands into the kingdom of grace. The first decade of 
the present century witnessed an increase of one hundred 
and nine thousand six hundred and sixty-six members in 
the Methodist Episcopal Church ; and that immense in- 
crease was considerably due to the camp-meetings which 
were so efficient, under God, in promoting the great re- 
vival which marked the opening of the nineteenth century. 



I 



American Methodism. 



509 



CHAPTEE XXIII. 

THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF 1804. 

HE Rev. William Colbert was one of the pioneer itin- 



J_ erants of the Methodist Episcopal Clmrch. He was a 
friend and colleague of the Rev. Henry Boehm, and was a 
very efficient preacher. Mr. Boehm esteemed him highly. 
The author of this volume was impressed particularly with 
the affection which the venerable centenarian revealed for 
Colbert, in his conversations concerning the early days. 
Next to Asbury, the memory of none of the heroes with 
whom he marched in the evangelical campaigns of 1S00, 
and subsequently, appeared to be cherished more tenderly by 
him than that of Mr. Colbert. Of him Mr. Boehm said to the 
author of these pages: "I joined society in 1797, when 
William Colbert and Dr. Chandler were on our circuit. 
Colbert had a particular aptitude for reaching the feelings 
of his hearers. His congregations were generally fine, for 
when a preacher made a stir among the people they rallied 
to hear him. He was a man of slight build ; below the aver- 
age stature, with a very expressive countenance, indicative 
of life and energy, with a strong voice, rather shrill and 
piercing, but commanding in its sound. Colbert was live- 
ly in preaching, but did not use much gesture, nor did he 
vociferate. He was fearless and powerful. He brought the 
truth home to his hearers with great effect. He was a full 
man, in every respect well qualified for his work. He was 
a man of ready speech, which was accompanied with a great 
deal of unction, and his success was great. He was a great 
revivalist. Brother Colbert and myself, in the year 1801, 
had about eight hundred conversions in Annamessex Cir- 
cuit — a circuit which extended from the neighborhood of 




510 



Centennial History of 



Indian River, across the peninsula into Deal's Island, vul- 
garly called Devil's Island, in the Chesapeake. We had 
almost every soul converted on that island. There were, 
I belie re, very few left." 

Mr. Colbert was born in Montgomery County, Mary- 
land, April 20, 1764. "My parents," he says, "were 
natives of England. My mother died in Baltimore. 
After her death I continued to live with my father, who, 
with myself, was destitute of religion until the year 1785, 
when it pleased the Lord to direct my wandering feet to 
hear the Methodists. In the year 1789 I was fully con- 
vinced that it was my duty to call sinners to repentance. 
Tiie Lord removed one of his laborers out of his vineyard 
to his reward. I was recommended by Ignatius Pigman 
to Nelson Heed, presiding elder, who sent me to fill his 
place on Calvert Circuit, where I continued to labor until 
September, 1790." * 

Colbert traveled extensively on circuits and as pre- 
siding elder in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsyl- 
vania, and New York. In 1811 he located. He received 
a supernumerary relation in the Philadelphia Conference 
in 1825. " To the last he preached to the admiration of 
the people and to the edification and comfort of the fol- 
lowers of Christ." The day before he died he said : "It 
is a great thing to die. My only dependence is on a bleed- 
ing, all-sufficient Saviour." He departed June 16, 1833. 
His Journal preserved in manuscript is a record of dili- 
gent and devoted labor in the service of the Church. 

Mr. Colbert was a member of the General Conference 
at Baltimore in 1804. The following is his Journal, so far 
as it relates to that body and its work : 

" Sunday, 6, [May, 1804.] I heard Augustus Joslin 
preach an excellent sermon this morning in the meeting- 
house in Old Town from Isaiah i, 19. In the afternoon 
I heard Jesse Lee preach from Amos v, and first part of 

* Obituary in the "Christian Advocate and Journal," August 9, 1833. 



Amekican Methodism. 



511 



the 6th verse, in Light Street, and at night I heard Thomas 
Lyell, in Light Street, preach an excellent sermon from 
Matthew v, 44. 

" Monday \ 7. The General Conference commenced. 
The day spent in forming the rules of the house. We 
had several elegant speeches. 

" Tuesday, 8. We finished the rules of our proceeding 
in the General Conference, and have begun the revision 
of our Discipline, chapter by chapter, section by section, 
and paragraph. At night George Pickering preached in 
Light Street from Matthew xii, 41, and after him Joseph 
Crawford gave us a very powerful and animating exhorta- 
tion. 

" Wednesday, 9. Sat in General Conference, and at night 
heard Lasley Matthews preach in Old Town from Hebrews 

ii, 3. 

" Thursday, 10. The subject of debate was, Shall we 
have presiding elders? It was concluded we shall. In 
the evening heard Joseph Crawford preach from 1 Peter 
iv, 18, and his brother exhort after him. 

" Friday, 11. We have had long and tedious debates on 
small matters trying to the patience. 

" Saturday, 12. A motion was made to-day, by George 
Dougharty, which, to my satisfaction, passed into a law, 
that no preacher should be continued in a circuit for more 
than two years. I have had the pleasure of hearing Lo- 
renzo Dow in the Hanover Market-house. A great number 
of preachers were to hear him, and a melting time it was. 

" Sunday, 13. I heard Dr. Coke preach an excellent 
sermon this morning in Light Street from 2 Corinthians 

iii, 18. At five o'clock I heard Joseph Moore preach, in 
the Marsh Market-house, on ' The barren fig-tree.' 

" Tuesday, 15. Repaired to Conference. Debates ran 
high. In the afternoon sat in Conference. The debate 
was warm on a resolution by Ezekiel Cooper, that the 
persons nominated by the trustees of the Chartered Fund, 



512 



Centennial Histoey of 



in Philadelphia, should be considered ineligible to the 
office in consequence of their having withdrawn from the 
society, and it not being five years since they were 
received. The resolution was adopted, but by a small 
majority. 

" Tuesday* 16. I spent in General Conference. We 
have had disagreeable work in our Conference. What 
need of consideration ! 

" Thursday, 17. Spent in General Conference, and 
hearing William Vredenburg preach in Old Town from 
Luke xii, 32. Heard Ezekiel Cooper preach at night, in 
Light Street, from Mark xvi, 15, 16. I am possessed with 
awful fears that this Conference, as a body, will hoist the 
flood-gates of corruption in their attempts to destroy the 
rule prohibiting believers and unbelievers marrying 
together. 

"Friday, 18. Spent in Conference. The day was spent 
in debating on whether the local deacon should be considered 
eligible to the office of elder after being a deacon six years, 
and recommended by four Quarterly Meeting Conferences 
for one year in the circuit in which he lives ? When it 
w T as put to a vote there was a tie, forty-four and forty-four, 
which left it in the hands of the Bishops, who laid it over 
until the next General Conference. William W atters, who 
perhaps considered himself the most deeply interested in 
the business, went off this afternoon. 

" Saturday, 19. The order of the day was called up in 
the General Conference to-day, which was the Book Con- 
cern. It was moved that it be removed from Philadelphia, 
and carried. It was then debated whether it should be 
moved to Baltimore or New York, and was carried in favor 
of New York by a small majority. In the afternoon, 
Ezekiel Cooper and John Wilson were proposed for 
Agents. Cooper had thirty-six votes and Wilson thirty- 

* For some reason Mr. Colbert drew his pen through Wednesday here, 
and wrote Tuesday again in its place. 



American Methodism. 



513 



four. So is the General Conference reduced by the im- 
patience of the preachers from about one hundred and 
twelve to seventy. At night heard a North. Carolina man 
preach in Old Town from Amos vii, 2 : ' By whom shall 
Jacob arise ? for he is small.' 

" Whitsunday, 20. Heard Dr. Coke preach in Mr. Ot- 
terbein's church from Leviticus xi, 44. At three o'clock 
heard Bishop Asbury in Mr. Otterbein's church from 
Romans viii, 14 ; and at night Brother Burk at Old Town 
from Romans viii, 1. 

" Monday, 21. Spent in Conference. Debates were 
warm. I dined at William Wood's with Brothers Ware 
and Black.* Returned to Conference. Debates still 
warm. Drank coffee with the Bishops at Sister Dickins's. 
Heard Ralph Williston preach at night in Light Street 
from John v, 40. 

" Tuesday, 22. Spent in General Conference. Heard 
John AVest preach at Old Town at night from Isaiah 
xlv, 22. 

" Wednesday, 23. In the afternoon ended our General 
Conference, which is the fourth General Conference I 
have been at, and 1 think the dullest of three if not of the 
four." 

Although these notes of* Mr. Colbert are very brief 
and terse, yet they serve to bring before the Church of 
to-day the men and events of earlier days. As records, 
slight though they be, of the chief councils of the Church 
in its formative years, by one of its early and heroic stand- 
ard bearers, the extracts from his journals we have given 
concerning the early General Conferences have sufficient 
interest to entitle them to be recorded where they will 
be accessible to whosoever may search the history of those 
times. 

* This undoubtedly was William Black, who came from Xova Scotia to 
the Christmas Conference. 
22* 



5U 



Centennial History of 



CHAPTEE XXIV. 

CLOSE OF ASBURY'S SUPERINTENDENCY. 

¥ HEIST Bishop Wliatcoat died, in the summer of 
1806, Asbury was left alone to bear the burden 
of the Superintendence for no longer did Dr. Coke 
share his labors. The Church had then grown to a 
membership of one hundred and thirty thousand, with 
four hundred and fifty preachers. It had spread over 
the settled portions of the republic. Its affairs had 
become more complex and its supervision involved 
increased travel, as well as more constant and varied exer- 
tion of mind. !New questions of administration, and prob- 
lems of ecclesiastical adjustment to new and various condi- 
tions, constantly pressed for solution. To none of these 
could the veteran Superintendent be indifferent. There 
was riot a question, great or small, which related to the 
Church's need or welfare to which he did not give atten- 
tion and thought. So alert was he that scarcely any thing 
in all the wide boundaries of the growing denomination 
escaped his vigilance, and from no interest which he 
could touch to advantage did he withhold his careful 
and helpful hand. The almost two years that the 
care of all the churches literally devolved upon him 
must have been crowded with responsibilities and labors 
sufficient to oppress, if not to crush, the strongest heart 
and brain. 

Without faltering or complaining this master of eccle- 
siastical government, with more than three-score years upon 
his head, applied himself to the vast labors of his office. 
From Maine to Georgia, and from New Jersey to Ohio, 
with no comfortable rail- cars to facilitate his progress, he 



American Methodism. 



515 



personally supervised the great operations of the Church. 
It was a glad day for the weary hero when the General 
Conference gave him a strong colleague, one who had 
both capacity and readiness to mitigate the severity of 
his labors and to lighten his burdens. 

Mr. M'Kendree had long been a loyal friend and lieu- 
tenant of the Bishop. He with great devotion and ability 
had administered the office of presiding elder in the West. 
He had passed over that new region where the Church 
advanced so rapidly with the increasing rush of immi- 
gration, planning wisely, and executing with skill, fidelity, 
and energy. To his effective leadership in that critical 
period in the West much of the prosperity of the Church 
was due. He had seen the solitary place made glad, and 
the wilderness blossom as the rose under the zealous and 
dihgent culture of the itinerants whom he led to success. 

It is true that, in an early stage of his ministry, M'Ken- 
dree, through the influence of his friend and presiding el- 
der, Mr. O'Kelly, became disaffected for a time toward 
Asbury and the government of the Church. He left the 
General Conference of 1792 with O'Kelly, and subsequently 
notified the Bishop, in writing, of his declination of work. 
He, however, found a way of becoming better acquainted 
with the great leader of the new Church, and that acquaint- 
ance dispelled his prejudice and corrected his errors. 

The Rev. Henry Smith, who labored with M'Kendree 
in the West, says: a He had been in the O'Kelly war 
against Bishop Asbury and Methodist Episcopacy, and 
had like to have been made a prisoner, but was rescued by 
the prudent conduct of Bishop Asbury. He asked the 
privilege of traveling with the Bishop, as a kind of con- 
dition to continue in the work. In 1S01 he said to me : 
4 The only reason I had for wishing to travel with the 
Bishop was that I might have an opportunity of knowing 
the man, and to find out whether he was the man James 
O'Kelly represented him to be. To my great astonish- 



516 



Centennial History of 



ment, I found liim just the reverse of what he was repre- 
sented, and I was fully satisfied.' " 

At the General Conference in Baltimore, in 1808, 
M'Kendree was called, by the vote of that body, to the 
Superintendency of the Church. The Sabbath before he 
was elected he preached in the presence of members of the 
General Conference. " We never can forget," says one of 
them, " the powerful effects of the sermon which he deliv- 
ered on the Sabbath morning previous to his election, in 
the Light Street Church, when the whole congregation 
seemed to be overwhelmed with a sense of the Divine pres- 
ence, and weeping, loud crying, and shouts of hosanna 
were seen and heard in every part of the house. 4 That ser- 
mon,' said Bishop Asbury, who was present, ' will secure his 
election.' " * His promotion followed on the 12th of May. 

Mr. Zachary Myles, of Baltimore, wrote, August 20, 1808, 
of M'Kendree : " Our new Bishop is a man of a pleasing 
person, a sweet countenance, and a very Christian spirit. 
He reminds us of that dear saint, Richard Whatcoat." In 
a sermon, preached in Baltimore, after M'Kendree's elec- 
tion, Bishop Asbury said : " Now, after forty years, the 
Lord has raised you up a Superintendent, a Bishop from 
among yourselves, a man full of faith and the Holy Ghost."f 

Asbury expressed his gratification that the burden of 
the Superintendency was now borne by two pairs of shoul- 
ders. He and M'Kendree traveled and presided in Con- 
ference together, and labored as true yoke-fellows in Jesus. 
Bishop Asbury' s confidence in and affection for his col- 
league breathes in his Journal. In manners M'Kendree 
was a courteous, it might perhaps be said a courtly, gentle- 
man. He had enjoyed in Virginia " highly cultivated 
society." He was about six feet in stature, of fine propor- 
tions, and remarkably prepossessing. He was in profound 
sympathy with the distinctive methods of the Church, and 

* Editorial in the " Christian Advocate and Journal," April 3, 1836. 
f " Anninian Magazine," 1308, pp. 574, 575. 



American Methodism. 



517 



his whole being was consecrated to its service in Christ, 
lie had long known and loved Bishop Asbury, and now 
stood by his side as his colleague in administering the 
Superintenclency, with an adaptation by rare native gifts 
and special training in the field to the varied and difficult 
requirements of the office such as few if any others pos- 
sessed, and which, together with his unfaltering devotion 
to the work, have placed him among the greatest of the 
Bishops of the American Methodist Church. 

For almost eight years the two Bishops labored harmo- 
niously and traveled much together. Mr. Boehm fre- 
quently rode in company with both, and for five years he 
was constantly by the side of Asbury. 

Henry Boehm was born in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- 
vania, June 8, 1775, and died on Staten Island, New York, 
December 28, 1875. He was the son of the Rev. Martin 
Boehm, a friend of Asbury, and a Bishop of the United 
Brethren. Henry was converted in 1797, was licensed by 
Thomas Ware in 1799, and began to travel about the be- 
ginning of 1800. He was a fine example of our early 
ministry, and personally knew many of the fathers. Of 
manly stature, sound intellect, uniform character, good ut- 
terance, a true gentleman, and a blameless Christian, he 
nobly represented to the present generation the heroic 
age of Methodism. The anniversary of his hundredth 
birthday was celebrated by a throng of the clergy and 
members of the denomination he had served so Ions* and 
so well, in Trinity Church, Jersey City. A review of his 
long career, written from his lips by the author of this 
volume, was read by the amanuensis by his directon, and 
addresses were made by distinguished ministers, among 
whom were the Eev. Drs. J. S. Porter, Buttz, Foss, Todd, 
Bartine. A poem was read by the Rev. Dr. George Lan- 
sing Taylor. A few weeks previously he delivered a brief 
sermon before the Newark Conference in the same church. 
He preached in John Street, JSTew York, after he passed 



518 



Centennial History of 



1 lis centennial. He received in his last days the care of 
his daughter, Mrs. S. C. Emley. He was a sound, faithful, 
and useful preacher. 

At length -the bereaved M'Kendree was called upon, in 
the same city where he had been elected as the associate 
of Asbury, to preside at the obsequies of the great departed. 

We have seen that Bishop Asbury died in Virginia on 
the last day of March, 1816. A month later and he 
would have witnessed another General Conference. This, 
however, was not to be. He had been graciously pre- 
served through nearly the whole quadrennium, and his 
great task fell from his hand just as the General Confer- 
ence was about to convene, and when it could provide 
suitable episcopal re-enforcements. 

Though the death of Bishop Asbury occurred a month 
before the General Conference assembled, his remains 
were brought to Baltimore during its session for final inter- 
ment. Upon the occasion of his burial in the same city 
where, thirty one years before, he had been placed in the 
Superintendency of the newly organized Church, a large 
concourse of people gathered, with the members of the 
General Conference. Bishop M'Kendree walked at the 
head of the great procession. The members of the Gen- 
eral Conference walked next to the Bishop, then the mem- 
bers of the Church and citizens in vast numbers. Amidst 
the grief of the Church, as displayed in that representative 
assemblage, M'Kendree pronounced the funeral oration, 
and the remains of Asbury were laid in the place of their 
final repose. 

Thus descended to the tomb, full of years and of the 
imperishable honors of spiritual conquest, the greatest 
man* in Christian labor and achievement who has ever 
shed the benediction of his life upon the continent of 
America. He is enrolled evermore with the martyrs and 
heroes of God. " He being dead yet speaketh." 



APPENDIX. 



A. 

METHODISM W THE CITIES OF THE IMTED STATES. 

THE conditions in cities are not the same as in rural regions. 
The methods of Methodism are somewhat unlike those of other 
denominations. It is, therefore, a question not simply of curiosity, but 
of real importance, whether a Church of singular features of organi- 
zation and administration, and which has shown unquestionable 
adaptation to the conditions of the agricultural portions of the country, 
is also well adapted to cities. That this question may be determined, 
an appeal to facts is necessary. The table which in the foil owing- 
pages is presented to the Church exhibts these facts in so far as 
they relate to the numerical status in the American cities of the chief 
division of the Methodist family. Towns having a population of 
ten thousand and upward, according to the tenth United States cen- 
sus, we accept as cities in this enumeration. Places of less population 
are often incorporated as cities, but for the purposes of tliis inquiry 
we have chosen to exclude them. The number of full members and 
of probationers in the Methodist Episcopal Church in each of these 
cities, according to the latest General Minutes, is here given. 

The question as to how far Methodism is successful in cities can 
only be satisfactorily determined by a comparison with those Churches 
whose success in urban communities is not questioned. If it falls seri- 
ously behind them, the fact would indicate that the peculiar system of 
Methodism is not so well suited to the cities as to the country. If 
it does not fall behind them, the contrary conclusion follows, in a 
good degree at least. The denominations which, for the purpose of 
this comparison, have been selected are the Baptist, Congregational, 
Protestant Episcopal, and Presbyterian. The latest and best access- 
ible statistical returns of these Churches * have been consulted, and 

* Considerable difficulty has been overcome in obtaining approximately cor- 
rect reports from the Baptist denomination. The statistics of the Baptists are not 
issued in perfected official form, but in minutes of Associations and by States. 



520 



Appendix. 



the number of communicants of each in the cities designated is 
given in the table of comparisons. How each of the denominations 
named stands as related to the Methodists numerically, the reader 
will see by scanning the columns which give the number of mem- 
bers of each Church in each city. How the Methodists stand as re- 
lated to these denominations in their combined membership in each 
of the cities will be seen by consulting the columns which contain 
the percentages. 

Concerning the following tabular exhibit of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church membership, and the membership of the four other 
most numerous evangelical denominations of the country, extended 
comments are unnecessary. It will be observed that so far from 
Methodism having proved a failure in urban fields, it is relative- 
ly strong in numbers in nearly all of the cities of the United 
States. Furthermore, it will be noticed that it is stronger, numer- 
ically, in a number of the cities than either of the other Churches, 
and that in a few of them its communicants exceed those of the other 
four denominations combined. In the column which gives the per- 
centage which the four denominations combined exceed the Meth- 
odist, the figures in the case of the cities in which they are less 
require to be transposed in the mind of the reader by substituting 
less for more. This is indicated, however, in each instance where it 
occurs by an asterisk. 

One other fact is to be noted, namely, that in the territory where 
the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is numerous in the cities, 
the Methodist Episcopal Church is not, as a rule, very numerous. 
The same fact holds respecting the Presbyterian Church, except that 
in most of the Southern cities the Presbyterian Church of the North 
does not exist. Had the Southern Methodist Church been included 
in this exhibit, the result would have appeared much more favorable 
to Methodism. In the Baptist, Congregational, and Episcopal bodies 
such sectional division does not exist. 

The table, as now presented, shows with sufficient definiteness the 
work which the Methodist Episcopal Church has accomplished in 
the single century of its existence in the cities of the United States. 

Some of the Association reports for the year 1884 may have been issued before 
these tables were completed, but such instances are too few to materially affect 
the exhibit. The number of the Baptists in several of the cities is also rendered 
somewhat uncertain in consequence of the impossibility of securing accurate num- 
bers of colored Baptists. Careful inquiry and correspondence have failed to 
secure, in some cases, satisfactory figures. The Congregational, Episcopal, and 
Presbyterian numbers are taken from their latest published denominational 
statistics. 



Appendix. 



521 



In that century it has collected congregations, organized churches^ 
built houses of worship, parsonages, and in some instances schools, in 
the cities of the republic ; and, with the foundations wisely and se- 
curely laid, it enters upon the second century of its ecclesiastical 
life and warfare with the prestige of success and the promise of 
victory. 



A TABLE OF COMPARISONS. 

In the following table will be found, in order, the name of every 
city in the United States having a population of ten thousand 
and upward; the population of every such city, as given by the 
census of 1880; the number of Baptist, Congregational, Episco- 
palian, and Presbyterian members in the city; the total membership 
of these four denominations ; the nnmber of full members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church; the number of probationers of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church ; the total membership of the Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, inclusive of probationers; the per cent, which 
the membership of the four denominations combined is greater 
(occasionally less) than the full membership of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church; the per cent, which the membership of the four 
denominations is greater (occasionally less) than the total member- 
ship of the Methodist Episcopal Church; the per cent, which the 
full membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church is of the entire 
full membership of the five denominations; and the per cent, 
which the total membership of the Methodist Episcopal Church is 
of the entire membership of the five denominations. 



522 Appendix. 









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528 



Appendix. 



B. 

EDUCATION IN THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHUECH. 

The educational work of the Methodist Episcopal Church, after the 
failures which are elsewhere narrated in this volume, has been re- 
markable for its success and magnitude. 

In the year 1831 TTesleyan University, at Middletown, Connecticut, 
was organized, with a faculty which only numbered 5, and with 
48 students. Its pecuniary resources were small, though the amount 
is not given. The Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk, who was the first college 
graduate in the Methodist itinerancy, was its first president. 

Fifty years later, namely, in 1881, its faculty numbered 20, its 
students 184, its pecuniary provision, including its property, $650,430, 
and its annual income $47,030. Its graduates had then reached the 
number of 1,291, " of whom 633 had been ministers, 48 college pres- 
idents, 674 professors and teachers, 249 lawyers, 73 physicians, 71 
editors, 164 authors, besides many engaged in secular pursuits. The 
statistician of the university estimated that the 633 ministers among 
the graduates had spent 8,540 years in preaching."* 

Soon after Wesleyan University began its career, Dickinson Col- 
lege came into the possession of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 

This institution was incorporated in 1783, at a time when there 
were only seven colleges in the United States, namely: Harvard, 
Yale, Brown, and Dartmouth, in New England ; William and Mary 
College, in Virginia ; Columbia, in New York ; and Princeton, in New 
Jersey. 

Dickinson College is located at Carlisle, and was the first college 
m Pennsylvania. It became embarrassed by discord in the faculty, 
and by want of harmony between the faculty and trustees. As the 
result it was closed and its students dismissed. This was in 1832. 
Negotiations were opened which resulted in the transfer of the Col- 
lege, "with all its lands, buildings, fixtures, libraries, apparatus, etc., 
in a full and satisfactory manner, to a board of trustees, nominated 
by the Baltimore and Philadelphia Annual Conferences." 

A movement for its endowment was organized, and the patronizing 
Conferences raised a subscription of $48,000. In September, 1834, 
the College was opened with the following faculty: 

The Rev. John P. Durbin, A.M., President, and Professor of Moral 
Science; Merritt Caldwell, A.M., Professor of the Exact Sciences; 



* The Bev. Daniel P. Kidder, D.D. 



ArPEXDix. 



529 



Robert Emory, A.M., Professor of Ancient Languages; Hon. John 
Reed, Professor of Law. 

The subscription for the endowment could not all be collected, so 
that it resulted in considerably less cash than the $48,000 promised. 
As late as 1856 its endowment was under $100,000. 

Wesleyan and Dickinson are the oldest existing colleges of the 
denomination. Since they were organized many others have risen 
in various parts of the country. Their names, property, endowment, 
indebtedness, together with the number of students, etc., appear in 
the tabulated statement which is given at the end of this Appendix. 

The cause of education has developed great benefactors. Large 
contributions of money have been made by single individuals to 
this cause. The theological schools received the first great gifts. 
Daniel Drew, in 1866, subscribed a quarter of a million of dollars 
to found the school which bears his name at Madison, New Jersey, 
of which Dr. Buttz is now president. Mrs. Eliza Garrett, about 
ten years previously, had founded the School of Theology of the 
West at Evanston, Illinois. Her single contribution has chiefly 
maintained it, and the proceeds of her gift will continue to main- 
tain it in the future. In New England Isaac Rich, a Methodist 
millionaire of Boston, by the bequest of his estate for that purpose, 
founded the Boston University. In New York George I. Seney has 
been a great giver to educational institutions. He has given in cash, 
or its equivalent, several hundred thousand dollars to Wesleyan Uni- 
versity, Midclletown, Connecticut. He has also given to two edu- 
cational institutions of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at 
Oxford, Georgia, two hundred and sixty thousand dollars. Other 
gentlemen in the same region gave considerable sums to education, 
among the chief of whom were Oliver Hoyt, Esq. ; David Campbell, 
of Newark, New Jersey; George J. Ferry, of Orange, New Jersey; 
and the late A. V. Stout, of New York. The late generous Corne- 
lius Walsh, of Newark, New Jersey, also contributed to the same 
cause. 

The greatest patron of Methodist education in the West is W. 
C. De Pauw ? Esq. He has decided to devote much of his wealth to 
developing into greatness the university which now bears his name. 
The particulars of his work are given in the following sketch, kindly 
furnished for this volume by the Rev. H. A. Gobin, D.D., Pro- 
fessor of Greek in De Pauw University : 
23 



530 



Appendix. 



WASHIXGTOX CHARLES DE PAUTY. 

W. C. De Patjw was bora at Salem, "Washington County, Indiana, 
on the 4th of January, 1822. As the name indicates, Mr. De Pauw 
is a descendant from a noble French family ; his great grandfather, 
Cornelius, having been private reader to Frederick II., of Prussia, 
and author of several works of note. Charles De Pauw, the grand- 
father of W. C. De Pauw, was born at the city of Ghent, in French 
Flanders. When he arrived at a proper age he was sent to Paris to 
complete his education, and there became acquainted with Lafayette. 
At that time the struggle for American independence was just be- 
ginning. He became infatuated with the American cause, joined 
his fortunes to those of Lafayette, and sailed with that renowned 
commander to this country. He served throughout the war, and, 
by the close, became so thoroughly imbued with a love for America 
that he sought a wife in Virginia ; thence he removed, with the first 
tide of emigration, to the blue-grass region of Kentucky. In that 
State General John De Pauw, the father of W. C. De Pauw, was 
born. On arriving at man's estate he moved from Kentucky to 
Washington County, Indiana. As agent for the county he surveyed, 
platted, and sold the lots in Salem, and purchased four acres of the 
high ground on the west side, upon which the family mansion was 
erected. He was by profession an attorney-at-law, and became a 
judge. He was also a general of militia. No man in his day en- 
joyed more of the confidence and good- will of his fellow-men than 
General John De Pauw. His wife, whose maiden name was Eliza- 
beth Batist, (the mother of W. C. De Pauw,) was a woman of supe- 
rior mind and of a strong and vigorous constitution. She died in 
1878, at the advanced age of ninety-two years. At the age of six- 
teen Mr. De Pauw was thrown upon his own resources by the death 
of his father. He had only the meager education which that period 
and the surrounding circumstances would allow his parents to give ; 
but, though young, he desired to be independent of friends and rel- 
atives, and accordingly set to work. He worked for two dollars a 
week, and when that was wanting he worked for nothing rather 
than be idle. That energy and industry, allied with character and 
ability, bring friends, proved true in his case. Major Eli W. Malott, 
the leading merchant of Salem, became interested in the young man. 
At the age of nineteen he entered the office of the county clerk, and, 
by his energy and faithfulness, he gained confidence, and soon had 
virtual control of the office. When he attained his majority he was 



Appendix. 



531 



elected clerk of "Washington County without opposition; to this 
office was adjoined, by the action of the State Legislature, that of 
auditor. Mr. De Pauw filled both of these positions until close ap- 
plication and the consequent severe mental strain impaired his 
health ; after several prostrations, and, through fear of apoplexy, he 
acted on the advice of his physicians and gave up his sedentary pur- 
suits. His extraordinary memory, quick but accurate judgment, 
and clear mental faculties, fitted him for a successful life. His early 
business career was like his political one; he was true and faithful, 
and constantly gained friends. His first investment was in a saw 
and grist mill, and this proving successful, he added mill after mill. 
"With this business he combined farming, at the same time investing 
largely in the grain trade. It is hardly necessary to state that he 
was fortunate in each investment, and his means rapidly increased 
until, at the breaking out of the war, he had a large mercantile 
interest and a well-established bank. He was at the same time one 
of the largest grain dealers in the State of Indiana, and his knowl- 
edge of his trade and his command of means rendered him able to 
materially assist in furnishing the government with supplies. His 
patriotism and confidence in the success of the Union armies were 
such that he also invested a large amount in government securities. 
Here again he was successful, and at the close of the war had mate- 
rially augmented his already large fortune. Mr. De Pauw has used 
his wealth freely to encourage manufactures and to build up the 
city of New Albany ; he has made many improvements, and is largely 
interested in the rolling-mills and iron founderies of that city. He 
is now proprietor of De Pauw's American Plate-glass Works. This 
is a new and valuable industry, and the interests of our country re- 
quire that it should be carried to success; it is a matter of national 
concern that American glass should surpass in quality and take the 
place of the French article in the markets of the world. Mr. De 
Pauw is now doing all in his power to promote this great end, and 
at present every thing points to the success of the undertaking. He 
has about two millions of dollars invested in manufacturing enter- 
prises in the city of New Albany. Mr. De Pauw has been often 
forced to decline positions which his party were ready to give 
him, and in 1872 he was assured by many prominent Democrats 
that the nomination for governor was at his disposal. In the con- 
vention he was nominated for lieutenant-governor. In order to 
show the purposes and character of the man, let us quote a few 
words from his letter declining the nomination: "My early busi- 
ness life was spent in an intensely earnest struggle for success as 



532 



Appendix. 



a manufacturer, grain-dealer, and banker. Since then I have found 
full work in endeavoring to assist in promoting the religious, be- 
nevolent, and educational interests of Indiana, and in helping 
to extend those advantages to the South and West. Hence I have 
neither the time nor inclination for politics. In these chosen fields 
of labor I find congenial spirits, whom I love and understand. My 
long experience gives me hope that I may accomplish something, 
perhaps much, for religion and humanity. " These are noble words, 
and a true index of Mr. De Pauw's character. He has expended thou- 
sands of dollars in building churches and endowing benevolent institu- 
tions throughout this and the neighboring States ; he has assisted many 
worthy young men to obtain an education, and has founded and kept 
in operation De Pauw College, a seminary of a high order for young 
ladies, at New Albany. Mr. De Pauw was for years a trustee of the 
State University at Bloomington, Indiana. He is a member of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church, and has served as a delegate of the In- 
diana Conference at the General Conferences of that Church in 1872 
and 1876. The part of his life most satisfactory to himself is that 
spent in his work for Christ in the church, in the Sunday-school, in 
the prayer-meeting, and in the every-day walks of life. He has 
been throughout life a thorough business man, full of honesty and 
integrity. He sought a fortune within himself, and found it in an 
earnest will and vast industry. He is eminently a self-made man, 
and stands out prominently to-day as one who, amid the cares of 
business, has ever preserved his reputation for honesty, integrity, and 
morality; who has never neglected the cause of religion, but has 
valued it, and still values it, above all others. 

But the crowning beneficence of his life is the munificent endow- 
ment of the Indiana Asbury University. "When it became known 
to the trustees of this institution that Mr. De Pauw proposed to ap- 
ply the larger part of his estate to educational interests, they made 
overtures to him to secure his liberal offerings for Asbury University. 
4 'Old Asbury" was in a seriously crippled condition financially. 
Although the patronage was liberal and most encouraging, the pro- 
ceeds of the endowment fund were much below the current expenses. 
On account of the scholarship plan adopted years ago it was not 
practicable to charge tuition. On account of the failure of several 
educational enterprises in various parts of the State the people had 
lost confidence in the permanent success of denominational schools. 
In this emergency the trustees, some of whom had been members of 
the B oard from the very founding of the college, approached Mr. 
De Pauw with the proposition that if he would bestow upon Asbury 



Appendix. 



533 



the liberal offerings which he proposed to make to the cause of edu- 
cation they would change the name of the institution to De Pauw 
University. At first the proposition meant that the name should 
stand as the memorial of Mr. De Pauw himself. But Mr. De Pauw 
accepted the proposal, with the understanding that the name should 
not be changed during his life-time, and that then the name of a de- 
ceased and dearly-loved daughter should be the conspicuous name in 
the memorial. 

Mr. De Pauw prescribed two other simple conditions. The first 
was that the people of Greencastle and vicinity should furnish ample 
grounds for the future needs of the university, and that the Method- 
ists of Indiana should raise $150,000, to make the endowment equal 
to the present needs of the university. 

At the solicitation of the trustees and citizens of Greencastle the 
above conditions were so modified that Mr. De Pauw consented to 
accept $123,000 from the Church at large and $60,000 as the dona- 
tion of Greencastle, instead of particular grounds formerly agreed 
upon. Mr. De Pauw has agreed to pay $2 for $1, that is, for the 
$183,000 paid in the general and local subscriptions he will pay 
$366,000. It is understood that forty-five per cent, of his estate will 
be bequeathed to the university. This plan secures to the univer- 
sity an endowment of over $1,000,000, and places it upon a broad 
and sure foundation of prosperity. 

This eminent benefactor is a man of deep and consistent piety. 
He is a veteran in Sunday-school work, and leads a meeting devoted 
to entire consecration and holiness of heart and life. 

The Methodists of Michigan have undertaken, in connection 
with the Centennial anniversary of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
to develop their college at Albion by increasing its funds. In doing so 
they also propose to rear a Centennial monument to the chief founder 
and builder of the Church, Francis Asbury. The name of De Pauw 
having been substituted for that of Asbury at Greencastle, Indiana, 
Michigan has decided to honor its Methodist university by conferring 
upon it that immortal name. The Rev. James S. Smart, D.D., who 
raised a considerable amount for Heck Hall, Evanston, in the first 
centenary of American Methodism, is leading the movement in Mich- 
igan with his enthusiastic advocacy and energy. A very befitting 
result of the first centennial of the Church of Asbury would be such 
a memorial of his beneficent labors and achievements. 

We present a tabulated statement of Methodist educational insti- 
tutions as follows: 



534 



Appendix. 



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539 



SUMMARY. 







Value of 








Stud'nts 


Students 


Class Institution. 


No. 


Buildings and 


Endowments. 


Debts. 


o o 


last 


from the 






Grounds. 






z g 
H 


year. 


beginniug. 


Theological Institutions 


10 


$440,500 


$673,500 


$26,000 


48 


547 


3,175 


Colleges and Universities — 


45 


4,433,114 


6,060,976 


345,174 


7:33 


14,375 


162,273 


Classical Seminaries, 


59 


1,855,400 


273,700 


156,S00 


388 


10,729 


219,953 


Female Colleges and Semin's 


8 


680,000 


18,000 


62.000 


135 


1,154 


23,978 


Foreign Mission Schools 


19 


175,626 


5,000 


2,500 


101 


1,886 


4,537 




141 


$7,584,640 


$7,031,176 


$592,474 


1405 


28,591 


413,906 



PROGRESS AND INCREASE IN EIGHTEEN TEARS. 





In 1865. 


In 1883. 


Increase. 


Theological Institutions 


2 


10 


8 


Colleges and Universities 


23 


45 


22 


Classical Seminaries and Female Colleges 




86 


9 


Whole number of Institutions 


102 


142 


39 




714 


1,405 


691 




23,106 


28,591 


5,485 


Value of Buildings and Endowments, 


$3,055,000 


$14,023 342 


$10,968,342 






413,906 





The present character, demands, and condition of the educational 
work of the Methodist Episcopal Church have been very lucidly and 
thoroughly summarized by the Corresponding Secretary of the Board 
of Education, the Rev. Dr. Kidder, in his report to the Centennial 
General Conference of 1884. It may, without invidiousness, be said 
that few men have accomplished a greater work in the field of Meth- 
odist education than this able worker gives promise of achieving by 
the end of the first decade of the Church's second century. While 
the results of the collections on Children's Day in 1884 are not yet 
fully ascertained, it is known that the amount contributed will quite 
exceed fifty thousand dollars. This result is largely due to the wise 
plans originated by Dr. Kidder. 

The Education Fund of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which 
was founded by Centenary gifts in 1866, now amounts to about two 
hundred thousand dollars, and is increasing. The interest of this 
fund, and the annual collections of "Children's Day," are to be ap- 
propriated hereafter, so far as shall be necessary, to assisting youth- 
ful members of the Church in acquiring an education in the schools 
and colleges of the Church. 



GENEEAL INDEX. 



I. TOPICAL. 

Abingdon, Md., project to found a college at, 186; Cokesbury College 

founded at, 191. 
Airs, George, conversion of, 114. 
Allegheny College, 217. 

Allen, Beverly, enters Charleston, 1785, and joins Henry Willis in his labors, 
113 ; forms Great Pee Dee Circuit, N. C, 116 ; success of, in North Carolina, 
116. 

Andrew, Bishop, General Conference action concerning, 104. 
Andrew, John, eminent in Sunday-school work, 180. 
Annual Conference Boundaries, first formed in 1796, 446, foot-note. 
Antigua, Lambert sent as missionary to, 124. 

" Arminian Magazine,'' Philadelphia, Coke's " Journal " published in, 
312; contents of first number, 312; issued in Philadelphia, 312; publication 
of, suspended, 312, 313. 

Asbury, Francis, sent to re-enforce the work in America, 11 ; appointed Super- 
intendent jointly with Dr. Coke, 21 ; opposes administration of sacraments 
by Methodist ministers in America, 22; declines Superintendency from 
Wesley, 24; labors of, in America, 25; first Conference held by, 25; true 
to America and American Methodism, 26 ; regarded with suspicion by the 
patriots, and forced into retirement, 26 ; esteem of preachers in America for, 
27 ; choice of the preachers in America for Superintendent, 27 ; formally set 
apart as General Superintendent of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 27 ; 
made a deacon and an elder before consecration to the office of Superintend- 
ent, 28; layman, only a, 30; present at Christmas Conference, 36 ; opposed 
to declaration of submission to Mr. Wesley, 56; acquiesces in Whatcoat's 
designation to the Superintendency, 58; head of American Methodism, 65; 
real Bishop of Methodism in the New World, 66; interview with Coke, 67; 
letters of, to Wesley respecting the Superintendency in America, 72 ; Eankin 
nicknamed " Diotrephes " by, 59, 81 ; letter of, to the Rev. Joseph Benson, 59, 
81 ; recognized as the governing mind of American Methodism, 84; Method- 
ist Episcopal Church, the product of his brain and heart, 84; prepares for a 
•journey southward, 111; Wells, Edgar, conversion of, 111, 112; writes to 
Wesley respecting adverse influence of Calvinists and Universalists in Penn- 
sylvania and the Jerseys, 122; not inclined to multiply presiding elders, 
138; father of the itinerant ministry in the United States, 143; aggressive 
power of, 150; his power to appoint the preachers essential to the success of 
the new Church, 150 ; required obedience to his orders on the part of the 
preachers, 151 ; devotion of, to the welfare of the preachers, 152 ; foremost in 
braving toil, hardship, and peril, 166; strongly opposed to the plan of set- 
tling ministers, 168; letter from, to Thomas'" Morrell respecting the estab- 
lishment of Sunday-schools, 176; labors of, for Cokesbury College, 196; 
an enthusiastic friend of Christian education, 207, 208 ; founds Union 
School, 209; chief founder and apostle of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
in the United States, 245 ; birth and boyhood, 245; early ministry, 245; 
embarks for America, and lands at Philadelphia, 245, 246 ; qualifications 



542 



General Index. 



Asbury, Francis, {continued.) 

for his mission to America, 246 ; strength of his love for God and 
souls, 247 ; inner spiritual life, 248 ; trials, harassed by, 250 ; refers to 
his Christian experience in a letter to Wesley, 250; frequent and ear- 
nest in prayer, 249, 251; public prayer, gift for, 254; humility, 255; 
never a bigot, 257 ; man of one Book, a, 258 ; familiar with classical 
tongues, 259; bodily infirmities, 259-261 ; mental and physical endow- 
ments, 263 ; his coming to America ordained of God, 264; capacity as an 
ecclesiastical ruler, 265 ; practical wisdom, 265 ; true American, a, 266 ; 
nobly endowed intellectually for his great work, 266; gift of utterance good. 
267; capable of great exertion and endurance, 268; gifted with a melodious 
voice, 268; personal appearance, 269 ; how was his mission fulfilled? 269 ; 
careless of personal aggrandizement, 270; labored in sparsely settled parts, 
270 ; imbued with the spirit of the Master, 271 ; compassion for the poor and 
distressed, his, 272; beloved by the Negroes, 272; sought the salvation of 
the poor, 273; apostolic zeal, his, 273, 274; diligent in his work, 275; en- 
countered many dangers in his travels, 278; menaced by Indians, 279, 280 ; 
sermons, analysis of his, 292; attentive to details in 'his work, 280; ex- 
horted the preachers to care for the sick, 281 ; pastoral conversations, traits 
of his, 282 ; love and consideration for children, 283 ; deeply interested in 
the education of the young, 285 ; dread of becoming useless, 286 ; magni- 
tude of his evangelical labors, 287 ; invited by Wesleyan Conference to visit 
England, 288 ; pulpit presence, his, 289 ; earnest preacher, an, 290 ; influ- 
ence of his preaching, 290, 291 ; grandeur of his character, 294; testimony 
of the fathers rejecting, 296; contributed to the support of the widowed 
Mrs. Dickins, 297 ; traveling companions, regard felt for Asbury by his, 298, 
299 ; lived to see the Church firmly established, 299 ; close sympathy for 
young men, 300, 301 ; filial relations, 303 ; affection for his parents, 304; 
chose celibacy for the sake of the itinerancy, 305 ; last days and death, 
306; his monument the Church which he founded, 307; deeply interested 
in the growth of the Church in the Eastern States, 338; preaches m< mnrial 
sermons on Dr. Coke, 359, 360 ; endeavors of, to convene a Council, 436 ; 
opposed to a General Conference, 439 ; a great revivalist preacher, 486 ; great- 
est religious chieftain of the 19th century, 488 ; speedily adopted the camp ■ 
meeting as an evangelizing agency, 490 ; growth of the Church during his 
Superintendency, 514; close of his Superintendency, 514; obsequies of,'517. 

Asbury College, presidency of Dr. Jennings, 213; account of, and final dis- 
continuance, 214. 

Augusta College, 215; Finley, John P., appointed president, 215; early 

prosperity of, 216 ; failure of, 217. 
Axley, James, 159. 

Baltimore, revivals in, 235, 236, 240 ; scenes during the revival of 1800 at, 

471-473 ; the great revival of 1800 felt in, 480, 482. 
Bangs, Nathan, misapprehension of, in regard to Heck family, 16; becomes 

Book Agent, 322. 
Barratt's Chapel, meeting of Coke and Asbury in, 67. 
Bartine, David W., biographical sketch of 47 '4, foot-note. 
Bascom, Henry B., president of Madison College, 217. 
Bell, Thomas, picture of Methodism in New York in 1769, 10. 
Bethel Academy, founded, 201 ; opened by Asbury in 1795, 202; ceases to 

exist, 204. 

Bible, The, Asbury's devotion to, 258 ; Asbury z s Hebrew Bible preserved, 258, 
foot-note. 

Bishop, title of, not used by Christmas Conference, 88 ; "Wesley did not ap- 
point a, 88 ; first assumption of the title in the Minutes, 89 ; opposition to 
the title, 89 ; Wesley opposed to the name, 90 ; powers delegated to, by 
General Conference' 105 ; declared to be in orders "merely an elder or 
presbyter " by General Conference of 1884, 107. 



General Index. 



543 



Bishops, advocates and examples of itinerancy, 169. 

Black, William, present at Christmas Conference, 36 ; first Wesleyan itiner- 
ant in New England, 233 ; preaches in Boston, 234 ; sketch of, 371, 372. 

Boehm, Henry, began service as Asbury's traveling companion m 1808, 277 ; 
describes his first tour with Asbury, 277, 278 ; description of Jesse Lee, 341 ; 
account of Lee's last moments, 343; reminiscences of Coke, 347; recol- 
lections of Whatcoat, 369 ; biographical sketch of, 517 ; centenary birth- 
day of, 517. 

Bond, J. W., traveling companion of Asbury, 256; account by, of death of 
Asbury, 306. 

Book Concern, Dickins, John, the founder of, 308; " Arminian Magazine " 
begun, 312 ; " Methodist Magazine " established, 313 ; early publications of, 
315; personal supervision of, by John Dickins, 315; left well established 
by Dickins, 316; condition of, in 1799, 318; required much skill, devotion, 
and energy in its infancy, 319; financial progress under Cooper, 320; re- 
moved from Philadelphia to New York, 321 ; John Wilson elected Agent, in 
1808, 321 ; Hitt bee >mes Agent. 322; agency of Nathan Bangs and Thomas 
Mason, 322; removed to Mulberry St., New York, 322; description of the 
Mulberrv Street premises prior to the fire of 1836, 322, 323 ; destroyed by fire 
in 1836,322. 

Boston, Mass., preaching of William Black, 234, 235. 

Boyer, Caleb, member of the Christinas Conference, 37 ; sketch of the life 

and labors of, 372, 373. 
Bruce, Philip, 463^70. 
Burke, William, 162. 

Calvin, John, tenets of, stoutly maintained in the early days of the Church, 
121. 

Camp-meetings, the old, 485 ; a special means in promoting the revival of 
1800, 489; first camp- meeting:, the, 489; origin of, 490 ; adopted by Asbury 
as an evangelizing agency, 490 ; spread of, promoted by Asbury, 491 ; great 
spiritual results of the early, 41)1, 492; novelty of, attracted thousands 'who 
were indifferent to religion, 493 ; description of a camp-meeting in Georgia 
in 1802, 493, 494; introduced into New Jersey and New York, 500; Wye 
camp-ground, Md., 1809; scenes at, 502, 503 ; at Carmel, N. Y., near Salem, 
N. J., and in Tennessee, in 1818, 500 ; gave Methodism access to the people, 
507. 

Carmel, Dutchess Co., N. Y., camp-meeting opened at, in 1804, 500. 

Cassell, Leonard, biographical sketch of, 501, 502. 

Chalmers, John, traveling companion of Asbury, 253. 

Charleston, Asbury's work in, 113; growth of the work in, 114; Conference 
assembles in, 114. 

Charleston Conference. See Conference, Charleston. 

Charleston, John, converted in Crenshaw's Sunday-school, 175. 

Christianity in America influenced and shaped by labors of Christmas Con- 
ference, 2S. 

Christmas Conference, The. See Conference, Christmas. 
Clark, Lahan, reminiscences of Whatcoat, 367. 

Cloud, Robert, labors of, in Staten Island in 1786, 120 ; discussion between 

Cloud and a Baptist clergyman, 121. 
Coate, Samuel, 160 ; important work of, at camp-meetings, 495 ; describes a 

camp-meeting in Tag^art's woods, Eeistertown, Md., 495-497 ; describes 

American camp-meetings, 506 ; biographical sketch of, 507 ', foot-note. 
Coke, Thomas, embassador of Wesley, 20 ; appointed joint Superintendent 

with Asl'iiry, 21; preaches on the occasion of Asbury's elevation to the 
. Superintend'ency, 27; appointed by Wesley to the office of Superintendent 

unanimously ratified, 27; preaches on "necessity of the witness of the 



544 



General Index. 



Coke, Thomas, {continued.) 

Spirit," 32 ; conclusive evidence that he was present at the Christmas Con- 
ference, 38 ; understanding of, concerning Mr. Wesley's intentions respect- 
ing the new Church, 51; account of his interview with Asbury, 67 ; under- 
standing of Wesley's plan for the organization of the new Church, 69 ; 
letters to Wesley respecting his journey to America, 70, 71 ; sermon of, at 
ordination of Bishop Asbury referred to, 73; "independent" — in what 
sense did he use the word ? 74 ; " separate " — in what sense did he use the 
word ? 74; doubts whether he did not transcend Wesley's authority, 74; 
in favor of the name Methodist Episcopal Church, 75 ; did not anticipate a 
General Conference, 78 ; restrained by Baltimore Conference, 82 ; writing 
given by, to Baltimore Conference, 83 ; did Wesley make him a Bishop"? 
86 ; ordination of, not Episcopal, as Wesley understood the term, 87 ; 
human weakness, not free from, 88 ; letter of, to Bishop White, stating that 
Wesley " solemnly invested him with Episcopal au'hority," 92 ; presbyter, 
ordained a, 93 ; agrees at General Conference of 1796 to come and spend his 
days in America, 96 ; action of General Conference of 1808 respecting, 102 ; 
admits the right of the General Conference to dispose of his case as it 
pleased, 103; attitude of, toward slavery, 117; zeal of, for liberty, 118; first 
Missionary Secretary and Treasurer of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
125; sermon on the " Godhead of Christ," published at request of the 
Christmas Conference, 123, 125 ; arranges for departure of missionaries to 
Nova Scotia and Antigua, 125 ; visit to and description of Cokesbury Col- 
lege, 192; "Journal" published in the "Arminian Magazine," (Philadel- 
phia,) 312 ; birth and education, 344 ; becomes a minister of the Church of 
England, 344 ; conversion of, 344 ; zeal and fervor of his preaching, 345 ; 
employed by Wesley, 345 ; meets Wesley, 345 ; visits the societies'in Ire- 
land, 345 ; five visits to the United States, 346 ; preaches at ordination of 
Whatcoat, 347 ; personal appearance, 348 ; proposes union of the American 
Methodists with the Protestant Episcopal Church, 348 ; impulsive tempera- 
ment of, 348, 349; receives tidings of the death of Wesley, 350; "Jour- 
nal," confusion of dates in, 350, foot-note; indignation at the dropping of 
Wesley's name from Minutes of Methodist Episcopal Church, 349, 351 ; 
sermon in Baltimore on the death of W r esley, 349, 351 ; difficulty with 
Devereux Jarratt, 353 ; virtually an abolitionist, 354, foot-note; one of Wes- 
ley's executors, 355; publishes, with Henry Moore, a "Life of Wesley," 
355 ; missionary labors of, 356. 357 ; tribute to, by Dr. Bangs, 357 ; aids 
Asbury's parents in England, 357 ; generosity in behalf of missions, 357, 
358 ; dies at sea, 358 ; Asbury's tribute to, 359, 360. 

Cokesbury College, 190 ; dual origin of the name, 192 ; unfortunate begin- 
nings, 192 ; financial condition of the enterprise, 193 ; plan and scope of, 
194; consumed by fire in 1795, 197. 

Colbert, William, statement of, concerning action of General Conference of 
1796, respecting Dr. C"ke, 101 ; toils and privations of, 157, 158 ; itinerant 
toils of, 165 ; describes a watch-night service, in 1791, on Harford Circuit, 
Md., 232; reminiscences of Coke's preaching, 347; sketches of men and 
matters at General Conference of 1792, 463, 466 ; describes revival scenes in 
Baltimore in 1800, 471-473 ; one of the pioneer itinerants, 509 ; itinerant la- 
bors of. 510 ; biographical sketch of, 510 ; Journal of the General Confer- 
ence of 1804 by, 510-513. 

Cole, ~Lq Roy, one of the members of the Christmas Conference, 37 ; bio- 
graphical sketch of, 373, 374. 

Common Prayer Book, abridgment of, by Wesley, 93. 

Conference, Annual, an important part of the itinerant system, 154 ; early 
Conferences, 154 ; sat with closed doors, -155. 

Conference, The Baltimore, decides against the appointment of Whatcoat, 
58; Coke restrained by, 82. 

Conference, The Charleston, agrees to Wesley's designation of What- 
coat for the Superintendency, 58. 



General Index. 



545 



Conference, The Christmas, assembling of, in 1784, in Lovely Lane, Bal- 
timore, 19 ; hails with joy the letter of Wesley, 23 ; unanimity among mem- 
bers of, 24; recognizes two orders in the ministry, 27 ; preaching by Dr. 
Coke and others at, 28 ; members composing the, 28 ; far-reaching influ- 
ence of, 28 ; laity consulted respecting matters before the, 31 ; societies 
prompt to ratify the work of the, 32; abiding and effective character of its 
work, 33 ; members of the, 34 ; elders present at the, 3G ; preachers elected 
to orders at the, 36 ; alphabetical list of preachers present at, 36 ; formal 
submission to Wesley made by the, 56 ; understanding of members of, 
concerning Wesley's intentions respecting a separate Church, 76 ; preachers 
composing, heartily in favor of separation, 81 ; Bishops, did not elect, 89 ; 
slavery, rule adopted on, 117 ; Superintendents given power to appoint the 
preachers, 186 ; presiding eldership came into existence at, 137; preachers of 
the, 371-433 ; not a General Conference ol the organized Church, 462. 

Conference, General, of 1784 agreed upon by Asbury and his preach- 
ers, 68 ; sacramental theory of the office of Bishop assumes tangible 
shape in General Conference of 1796, 96 ; treated the Bishops as if they 
had been simply Superintendents, 99; action of, in 1808, respecting Dr. 
Coke, 102; Andrew, Bishop ? case of, 104; has governed the incumbents of 
the Episcopate as if it were simply an office, 104 ; sacredness of the power 
to appoint preachers, 105 ; declares, in 1884, that the Episcopate is not an 
order but an office, 107; limits appointments to two years, (1804,) 143 ; 
Coke's testimony (1792) to the zeal and ability of its members, 445 ; im- 
portance of Conferences of 1792 and 1796, 461, 462 ; none held alter Christ- 
mas Conference until 1792, 463 ; Colbert's sketches of men and matters at 
the Conference of 1792, 463. 

Conference, General, of 1800, 467; convened in Baltimore, 469, 470; 
revival at, 470 ; events and actors of, 471-473. 

Conference, General, of 1804 , 509 ; Colbert's Journal of, 510-513. 

Cook, Valentine, 194; placed in charge of Bethel Academy, 202; preached 
at camp-meeting, 507. 

Cooper, Ezekiel, account of a revival in Baltimore in 1789, 237-239 ; eulogy 
of Asbury, 296; succeeds Dickins as Book Steward, 314; address issued by, 
as Book Steward, 316-318 ; successful management of the Book Concern, 
320 ; retires from the Book Concern, 321 ; eulogy of Dickins, 326. 

Council of Presiding JKliIers proposed by the Bishops in 17S9, 434; plan 
or constitution of, 435 ; dissatisfaction of the Connection with their proceed- 
ings, 437 ; second council, 437 ; superseded by General Conference, 440. 

Cox, Philip, 219, 223, 226. 

Crenshaw, Thomas, Sunday-school held in the house of, 174. 
Cromwell, James O., a member of the Christmas Conference, 38; sails for 
Nova Scotia, 126 ; return to work in United States, 127 ; sketch of, 375-377; 

Dickins, John, suggests the name "Methodist Episcopal Church," 24; 
friendship of Asbury for, 24; member of the Christmas Conference, 38; first 
to hear from Dr. Coke the nature of his mission, 64; first to propose the 
name " Methodist Episcopal Church," 75 ; opinions of, concerning the Epis- 
copate, 104; death of, 297 ; founder of the Book Concern, 308 ; birth and ed- 
ucation, 308 ; evangelistic labors of, 30S, 309 ; zeal in the ministry, 309, 310 ; 
arrives in New York, 310, 311 ; removes to Philadelphia, 311; appointed 
Book Steward, 311; publishes a Methodist hymn book, 312 ; " Arminian 
Magazine" established, 312; establishes the " Methodist Magazine; various 
publications issued by, 315; attended personally to the details of the pub- 
lishing business, 315; his administration of the Book Concern both wise 
and enterprising, 318 ; leading scholar of the Church in his day, 324; emi- 
nent as a preacher, 325 ; Colbert's testimony to the character of, 326 ; faith- 
ful minister and devoted Christian, a, 326 ; Cooper's eulogy of, 326-328 ; 
influential ecclesiastical leader, an, 328 ; heroism during the yellow-fever 
visitation, 329 : glorious death, 330 ; friendship of Asbury for, 331 ; impor- 
tant part played by, at first General Conference, 442. 



546 



General Index. 



Discipline, The, sketch of the rise of Methodism, gives no precise dates, 7 ; 
declaration of, concerning setting apart of Coke and Asbury, 86; insertion 
of a rubric in, on the subject of the Episcopate, 107, 108. 

Discrepancies between Coke's utterauces and acts and Wesley's words, 94. 

Doctrinal symbols furnished by Wesley accepted and adopted, 28. 

Documents, uncertainty of early Methodist, 49. 

Dougharty, George, preaching and Sunday-school labors of, 180, 181 ; as- 
saulted by a mob, 181-183; death of, 184; energetic in behalf of educa- 
tion, 207. 

Dow, Lorenzo, spiritual awakening of, 227. 

Dromgoole, Edward, one of the members of the Christmas Conference, 39 ; 

brief biography of, 377-383 ; origin of the name, 377. 
" Duck Creek Conference," The, remarkable revival at, 474. 

Easter, John, 222, 224, 225. 

Eastern Shore, Maryland, revival on the, 467. 

Ebenezer Academy, 205. 

Education, new Church and education, the, 186 ; plan for erecting a college, 
the, 187-190; Cokesbury College founded, 191 ; Cokes bury College burned, 
197 ; erection of a new college proposed, 198 ; academy in Baltimore also 
burned, 199 ; an academy established in Baltimore, to take the place of 
Cokesbury College, 199 ; disheartening effect of the double conflagration, 
200 ; Bethel Academy, account of, 201-204; Catawba Indians, school estab- 
lished among, 204; 'Ebenezer Academy, account of, 205; Mount Bethel 
Academy, 205, 206 ; labors of George Dougharty in behalf of education, 
207 ; Union School founded by Asbury, 209 ; reasons for the failure of the 
earlier seminaries, 211 ; Asbury College, 213 ; Wesleyan Seminary, New 
York, opened, 1819, 214; Madison and Augusta Colleges founded, 215; 
Allegheny College, 217. 

Ellis. Ira, one of the preachers present at the Christmas Conference, 40; 
biographical sketch of, 383-385. 

Ellis, Michael, conversation of Whatcoat with, 68. 

Ellis, Reuben, elected elder at the Christmas Conference, 40 ; sketch of, 3S5, 

386. 

Embury, Philip, preaches in New York, 9 ; society formed by, the means 
of calling Wesley's attention to the needs of the work in America, 11 ; death 
of, 15. 

English State Church, revolution swept away the, 109. 

Episcopacy, The, 85 ; Wesley designed to plant only the form of, in this 

country, b7 ; conflicting views as to, 97, 98 ; declared to be not an order, but 

an office, by General Conference of 1884, 107. 
Episcopal clergy destitute of personal godliness, 22 ; stanch loyalists, 23. 
Everett, Joseph, member of the Christmas Conference, 40 ; sketch of, 386- 

390. 

Finley, J. P., appointed president of Augusta College, 215. 

Forrest, Jonathan, last survivor of the Christmas Conference, 84; a mem- 
ber of the Christmas Conference, 41 ; some account of, 234, 235 ; sketch of, 
390-393. 

Garrettson, Freeborn, member of the Christmas Conference, 41; belief of, 
that Wesley authorized the Christmas Conference to organize under an Epis- 
copal form of Church government, 76 ; sails for Halifax as missionary to 
Nova Scotia, 126 ; travels of. in New England, 153, 154 ; tribute to Asbury's 
life and character, 298 ; sketch of, 393-402. 

Gatch, Philip, one of the early itinerants, ±55, foot-note. 



General Index. 



547 



Georgia, description of a camp-meeting in, 494. 

Gill* William, member of the Christmas Conference, 42; sketch of, 402-404. 
Glendenning, William, one of the members of the Christmas Conference, 

1784, 42; sketch of, 404, 405. 
Green, Lemuel, a member of the Christmas Conference, 42 ; sketch of, 405- 



Hagerty, John, member of the Christmas Conference, 43; enters Elizabeth, 
N. J., 1785, 119 ; holds watch-night service and conducts revival at Annapolis 
in 1789, 232 ; sketch of, 407-409. 

Haw, James, appointed missionary to the western settlements, 129; great 
success attends his preaching in the West, 131. 

Heck family, Barbara Heck, " the mother of American Methodism," 13, 14 ; 
various errors concerning, corrected, 13, 14, 16, 17 ; the name not Hick, 14; 
Paul Heck immigration of, from Ireland. 14; Paul Heck enters British 
army 14 15; join Paul Heck in Canada, 15; John Heck, grandson of Bar- 
bara 'l5 'l6 ; Paul Heck one of the trustees of John Street Church, New- 
York, 16; death of Paul Heck, 16; Jacob Heck, a distant relative of Paul 
Heck^ 16 ; fac-simile of Paul Heck's signature, 18. 

Hill, Green, Conference meets at the house of, 1785, 117. 

Hitt, Rev. Daniel, letter of Coke to, on the subject of slavery, 118 ; letter of 
Asbury to, on presiding elders, 138; becomes Book Agent in 1810, 322. 

Hull, Hope, 220, 233, 226, 228. 

Hutchinson, Sylvester, 151, 152; arduous labors and preaching of, 157; 

revival labors of, 242. 
Hymns and liturgy of the Methodist Episcopal Church, origin of, 29. 

Immorality among Episcopal clergy, 22. 

Indians, dangers from, of the early Methodist missionaries, 132. 
Indians, Catawba, school established among, 204. 

Itinerancy, The, fully organized, 109; formal organization of the, 135; put 
under an effective system by Wesley, 135; two-years' rule, the, 141; limi- 
tation to two years strongly opposed, 142 ; difficulty in the case of Cyrus 
Stebbins, 142 ; pastorates limited to two years bv General Conference of 
1804, 143; no limit prior to 1804, 143; personnel of the early itinerancy, 
144; great missionary system, a, 148; record of compensation received by 
William Moss, 1788-98, 148; revivals relied on for a supply of preachers by 
Asbury, 149 ; prime objects of the establishment of the, 155, 156. 

Itinerants, character and earnestness of the early, 19, 20 ; hardships of the 
early, 20; important doctrinal labors of the early itinerants, 122; three 
grades anions? the, 136 ; heroism of the earlv, 144 ; opposition to, on the part 
ot other clergy, 145; nicknamed "land-strollers," 145; teachings of the 
primitive, 156; broken constitutions and early Heaths the frequent result of 
their labors, 161 ; hardships and perils of the early, 150-160 ; familiar figures 
throughout the country, 164; regarded the itinerancy as a glorious institu- 
tion, 167 ; believed they followed the example of Christ and his apostles, 
170 ; heroism of early itinerants during the yellow-fever epidemics, 480. 

Ivey, Richard, one of the preachers at the Christmas Conference, 43 ; sketch 
of the life and labors of, 409-412. 

Jarratt, Devereux, early friendship for the Methodists, 353 ; controversy 

with Coke respecting Negro slavery, 353,354. 
Jennings, James, 163. 
Jennings, Samuel K., 212. 



Kohler, John, report of debate in General Conference of 1796. 99; sent by 
Asbury as a missionary to the West, 450 ; birth, career, and death, 4o2. 



407. 



548 



General Index. 



Laity, had no voice in the organization of the Church, 29 ; Wesley would not 
tolerate them in his governing councils, 30 ; reasons for absence of, from 
Christmas Conference, 30 ; consulted respecting matters before the Christ- 
mas Conference, 31 ; satisfaction of, with the new Church organization, 32. 

Lambert, Jeremiah, a member of the Christmas Conference, 43 : missionary 
to Antigua, 124; return to America, labors and death of, 128 ; sketch of the 
life of, 412, 413. 

6i Lay preachers," origin of the title, 29. 

Lee, Jesse, dissents from Coke's antislavery views, 117; preaches at Peters- 
burg during the revival of 1787-88, 230; visits Connecticut, 234; named the 
Apostle of New England, 336 ; arrives in Boston in 1790, 336 ; 'methods of, 
bold and affective, 337 ; forms a New England circuit, 338 ; birth and con- 
version, 339 ; admirably fitted for a pioneer preacher, 339 ; famous as a 
raconteur, 340 ; powers as a preacher, 340 ; colloquial powers and readiness 
at repartee, 341 ; Boehm's description of, 341 ; nearly chosen to be Bishop, 
341 ; reasons for his non-elevation to the Episcopate, 342 ; chaplain to Con- 
gress, 342 ; last hours and death, 342, 343. 

Liturgy furnished by Wesley adopted, 28. 

Local ministry, founders of Methodism in the land of its greatest growth, 9 ; 

Asbury's estimate of, 12. 
Louisiana, early missionary labors in, 134. 
Lovely Lane Meeting-house, 19, 21. 

Madison College, 215 ; presidency of Henry B. Baseom, 217. 
Maryland, first camp-meeting in, 493, 494. 
Mason, Thomas, becomes Book Agent, 322. 
M'Combs, Lawrence, sketch of, 504, foot-note. 

M'Cormick, Francis, said to have introdued Methodism in Ohio, 454, 

foot-note. 

Mead, Stith, description by, of John Charleston, 175, 176 ; letter of, concern- 
ing origin of the Sunday-school in America, 181. 
Metcalf, John, teaches in Bethel Academy, 201. 

Methodism, American, who was the founder of, in the United States? 8; 
feebleness and obscurity of early Methodism in America, 19 ; chagrin of 
Wesley at independent organization of, 82; independent organization of, in- 
evitable, 82 ; Asbury recognized as its governing mind, 84; Sunday-school 
quickly incorporated into, 174 ; Pentecost of, the, 218 ; phenomenal success 
of, due to the unflagging energy of Asbury, 275 ; characteristic teachings of 
its ministry, 369 ; gained access to the people through its camp-meetings, 
5Q7. 

Methodism, rise of American, priority of the work of Strawbridge and 
Embury disputed, 9 ; no precise date assigned to the former in the Discipline, 
9 ; evidence in favor of Strawbridge's priority, 10 ; in default of further evi- 
dence New York may claim priority as to time, 11 ; local ministry, founders 
of, in America, 11 ; Asbury and Wright sent to re-enforce the work, 11 ; 
Bell's sketch of Methodism in New York in 1769, 12 ; early traditions ob.- 
scure and contradictory, 13. 

Methodist Episcopal Church, origin of, the name, 24; Coke favors 
the name, 24; Asbury bound by ties of sacrifice and suffering to the, 27; 
doctrinal symbols and liturgy furnished by Wesley adopted, 28 ; creed, 
canons, liturgy, and clergy, possessed a, 29 ; accepted by the Christian 
world as a Church of Christ, 59 ; hymns and liturgy, origin of, 29 ; a Chris- 
tian Church in every thing essential, 29 ; laity 1) ad no voice in the organi- 
zation of, 29 ; fears that it would be shattered by the admission of the laity 
into its councils, 31 ; laity rejoiced at its organization, 32 ; general pleasure 
at its organization, 32; Wesley's name removed from the Minutes, 59, 60, 
61, 62 ; would not yield to Wesley in all things relative to Church govern- 
ment, 60 ; some displeased at tlie removal of Wesley's name from the 



Genekal Index. 



549 



Methodist Episcopal Church, (continued.) 

Minutes, 62 ; Wesley never used the name, 75 ; Church of Asbury, the, 82 ; 
product of Asbury 's brain and heart, 84; advance of, from Baltimore, 109 ; 
unexampled opportunities before, in the year 1785, 109 ; vast extent of ter- 
ritory before the infant Church, 109 ; quick to embrace its opportunity, 110 ; 
spread of, in the South, 117 ; early antagonism of, to erroneous beliefs, 122 ; 
doubts as to doctrinal soundness of the infant Church, 123 ; missionary 
movements of the new Churches, 124 ; a missionary Church from the out- 
set, 134 ; organization of, contemporary with the commencement of the Sun- 
day-school movement, 171; gratuitous teachers, the first to employ, 179; 
early revivals throughout, 218-229 ; results of the early revivals, 228, 229; 
revivals of 1789 and 1790, the, 230 ; surprising growth in numbers in, 1785- 
1790, 244 ; the new Church in New England, 333 ; takes root rapidly in New 
England, 338 ; new Church in the West, the, 450 • Miami Circuit, formation 
of, 450 ; prosperity of the new Church among settlers in the West, 451, 452 ; 
Scioto Circuit formed, 452 ; Ohio, growth of the work in, 454 ; western set- 
tlements, spread of the work among, 458 ; additions to membership of, in 
the West, 483 ; membership of, in 1800, 485 ; growth of, during Asbury's 
Superintendoncy, 514. 

44 Methodist Magazine " established by John Dickins, 313. 

Methodists, American, discontent of, 21; divorced from ecclesiastical re- 
lations with Church of England, 80 ; suffered during the Revolution for 
Wesley's political opinions, 81 ; possessed the right to establish an ecclesi- 
astical fabric, 81 ; possessed the power to adopt regulations and create officers, 
91; labors and struggles of, in behalf of education, 209. 

Miami Circuit, founding of, and boundaries, 450. 

Missions, Domestic, Haw and Ogden appointed to visit the western settle- 
ments, 129 ; results of the first year's labors in the West, 130 ; hardships 
and perils of Haw and Ogden in the West, 130 ; early revivals in the West, 
130, 131. 

Missions, Foreign, missionary movements of the new Church, 124; first 
public collection in aid of, 125, 126. 

M'Kendree, William , calls presiding elders to his assistance in the stationing 
work, 140 ; account of the conversion of, 222 ; involved in the O'Kelly agi- 
tation and disaffected for a time, 515 ; much due to his devotion and ability, 
515 ; called to be a Bishop in 1808, 516 ; satisfaction of Asbury at his elevation 
to the Episcopate, 516; personal appearance and attitude toward the Church, 
516, 517 ; preaches Asbury's funeral sermon, 517. 

Moore, Henry, testifies that W T esley stipulated that the title of "Bishop" 
should not be used, 94. 

Moore, Mark, rector of Mount Bethel Academy, 206. 

Morrell, Thomas, third-order theory, holds forth, 95 ; reply to Hammett's 
attack on the Church, 95 ; conversion of, by preaching of the Bev. John 
Hagerty, 120 ; preaching, labors, and death, 120. 

Moss, William, record of compensation received by, in 1788-98, 148. 

Mount Bethel Academy, 205. 

Mourner's Bench, history of, foot-note, 468, 469, 481. 

Neelv. T. B., motion by, in General Conference of 1S84, declaring the Epis- 
copate to be not an order but an office, 107. 

New England, no immediate advantage taken of William Black's preaching, 
235; the new Church in, 333 ; low state of religion there in 1790, 336; New 
Haven Circuit, founded by Jesse Lee, 338; rapid growth of the infant 
Church, 338 ; revival in, during 1800, 477, 478. 

New Jersey, progress of the infant Church in, 1785, 119 ; great awakening of 
1800 in, 484. 



550 



General Ixdex. 



" New Plan," The, 69. 

NewYork, (State,) revival of 1800 in, 484; (City,) revival in, 1790, 241. 

Nova Scotia, Garrettson and Cromwell sent as missionaries to, 124; prosper- 
ity of the work under Garrettson and Cromwell, 126, 127 ; fruit of Garrett- 
son's preaching in Shelburne, 397, 398. 



Ogden, Benjamin, missionary to the western settlements, 129. 
Ohio, Methodism introduced in, 454, foot-note. 

O'Kelly, James, one of the members of the Christmas Conferenc, 44; op- 
poses Whatcoat's designation to the Superintendency, 58; secured a General 
Conference for the Meihodist Episcopal Church, 434; strongly opposed 
action of the Council of Presiding Elders, 435 ; influence of, over Virginia 
Conference, 436; antagonism of, to the measures of the first Council of 
Presiding Elders, 438; sought to restrict the Bishop's power of appoint- 
ment, 440; withdraws from the Connection, 442, 443; several adherents of, 
also withdrew from the Conference, 446; action of a great trial to Asbury, 
447 ; character of, 448 ; closing years elouded by disappointment and failure. 
449; organized a "Kepubncan Methodist Church," 449; last years and 
death, 449. 

Orders in the Ministry, Christmas Conference recognizes two, 27. 
Ordination, power of, vested in the General Superintendent, 85; power of, in 

Church of England belonged exclusively to the Episcopacy, 86. 
Otterbein assists at Asbury's ordination, 94. 



Pedicord, Caleb B., sketch of, 164; friendship of Asbury for, 302. 
Peninsula, The, extent of the revival of 1800 in, 478, 479. 
Philadelphia, advance of the Church in, 1785, 119; effects of the great re- 
vival of 1800 in, 481. 
Phcebus, William, one of the members of the Christmas Conference, 44; 

biographical sketch of, 413-416. 
Pigman, Ignatius, one of the deacons elected at the Christmas Conference, 

44 ; biographical sketch of, 416-419. 
Poythress, Francis, probability that he was a member of the Christmas 

Conference, 35 ; founds Bethel Academy, 201 ; mental aberration of, 203 ; 

sketch of the life and labors of, 419, 420. 
Preachers sent to America by "Wesley share his loyalist opinions, 25 ; elected 

to orders at the Christmas Conference, 36 ; pow er to station, in whom to be 

vested, 440. 

Presbyters, Whatcoat and Vasey ordained, 93. 

Presiding elders, institution of the office of, at the Christmas Conference, 
137 ; reasons for appointing, 138 ; did not at first participate in the work of 
stationing the preachers, 138; "Bishops' Cabinet," first appearance of, 139; 
M'Kendne calls them to his assistance in stationing the preachers, 140 ; first 
Council of, held in, Baltimore, Dec. 1, 1789, 434; second Council of, 437. 

Protestant Episcopal Church, union of Methodists with, proposed by 
Coke, 348. 

Quarterly Meeting, The, favorable to the promotion of revivals in early 

days, 237 ; Colbert's description of, 369, foot-note. 

Raikes, Robert, account of the origin of Sunday-schools, 171. 

Rankin, Thomas, loyalist opinions of, 25 ; flees from his charge in 1777, 25 ; 

sent as assistant to Ashury, 135. 
Reed, Nelson, one of the elders ordained at the Christmas Conference, 45; 

biographical sketch of, 421-425. 



General Index. 



551 



** Republican Methodist Church " organized by James O'Kelly, 449. 

Revivals, early awakenings of the people, 116; looked to for a supply of 
preachers by Asbury, 149; in the early days of American Methodism, 218, 
230 ; results of the early, 228, 229 ; slaves rnanumitte 1 during, 230 ; in Balti- 
more Conference, 235, 236, 240; quarterl y meeting-, the, a great agency for 
promoting, 237 ; genera! throughout Maryland in 1789, 240, 241 ; New York 
and New Jersey, revivals in, during 1790, 241, 242; on Miami Circuit, 452; 
revival of 1800, the, 467: characteristics of the revival <>f 1800, 469; at Gen- 
eral Conf rence of 1800, 470 ; preachers who participated in the great re- 
vival of 1800, 470, 471 ; revival of 1860 general througiiout the Church, 476, 
477 ; the awakening of 1800 in the Peninsula confined to the Methodists, 
479; the country's need of, 485; other Churches roused from inactivity, 
486 ; first spiritual awakening in the new republic, 487 ; camp-meetings 
used to promote, 489. 

Richardson, Jesse, 158. 

Roberts, George, labors of, in Baltimore during the yellow-fever epidemic 
of 1800, 480. 

Rodda, Martin, seeks refuge from death on board British fleet, 26. 

Sacraments, difficulty concerning the, 23. 
Scioto Circuit formed, 452. 

Shadford, George, assistant to Asbury in 1773, 135. 
Simpson, Matthew, educated at Madison College, 215. 
Slaveholders roused to wrath by Coke's attitude, 117. 

Slavery, Negro, rule adopted by Christmas Conference on, 117 ; new rule on, 
given prominence, 117 ; laymen urge suspension of rule against, in 1785, 
117; suspension of, rule again>t, recommended, 118; controversy between 
Coke and Jarratt, 353, 354; debated in General Conference of 1800, 472. 

Smith, Henry, forms Scioto Circuit, 452; labors of, 453, 454. 

Smith, John, present at the Christmas Conference, 45 ; sketch of, 425, 426. 

Snethen, Nicholas, testimony of, concerning Asbury's election by Confer- 
ence, 64; nicknamed Asbury's "silver trumpet," 143; describes the per- 
sonnel of the early itinerancy, 144, 146, 147 ; tribute to Asbury's character, 
295; reasons why Lee failed of election to the Episcopacy, 342; introduces 
the camp- meeting into Maryland, 498; one of the greatest pulpit orators of 
his day, 499 ; champion of the infant Church, the, 499 ; leads the camp- 
meeting at Wye, Md., 502. 

Sparks, Robert, biographical sketch of, 503, foot-note. 

Stebbins, Cyrus, difficulty experienced in removing him from Albany, 142. 

Stoll, Mrs., receives the Methodists into her house in Charleston, 113. 

StraAvbridge, Robert, preaches and forms a society in Maryland, 9: evi- 
dence in favor of his priority in the work, 10; one of the founders of Meth- 
odism in America, 135. 

Sunday-School, The, in Methodism, 171 ; origin of, contemporary with the 
organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 171 ; Methodi>t lady sug- 
gested the idea to Raikes, 171 ; Raikes's school a charity school, 171 ; early 
employed by the Wesleyans, 172; account of, in " Arminian Magazine," 
172; inaugurated by Merhodi-ts in foreign countries, 174; quickly incor- 
porated into American Methodism. 174 ; earliest Sunday-school in the 
United States, 176; first known Sunday-school convert, 176; rise of, on 
the American continent, 177, 179 ; commenced in New York city, 178; 
"Sunday and Adult School Union" of Philadelphia formed, 178; Sunday- 
School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church organized, 184 ; provision 
made for a literature, 185. 

Superintendency, General, made elective, 80, 85 ; stripped of prelatical 
ideas and theories, 107. 

Superintendency of Asbury, close of, 514. 



552 



General Index. 



Superintendents, General, deputies of Mr. Wesley, 85 ; design of "Wesley 
in appointing, 85 ; came to regard themselves as Bishops, 89 ; office of, 
changed to tiiat of Bishop, 90 ; Wesley claimed the right to control and re- 
move them from office, 92 ; power of appointment absolute, 141. 

Tennessee, the revival of 1800 spreads to, 4S1. 

Thacher, William, describes Coke's personal presence, 348. 

Tract Work, early use of the printed page, 116. 

Travis, Joseph, episode between him and Asbury, 302. 

Tunnell, John, missionary to East Tennessee in 1787, 132. 

Union School, 209. 

Vasey, Thomas, came to America by Wesley's authority, 30; member of 

the Christmas Conference, 46; troubles with Asbury, 82; ordained by 
Wesley, 86 ; volunteers as a missionary to America, 93 ; sketch of, 426, 427*. 

Virginia, Methodism extended in. 1775, by the formation of Lancaster Circuit, 

115 ; entire State, the, mapped out in Methodist circuits, 116. 

Wakeley, J« B., errors of, in Heck biographies, 11. 

Ware, Thomas, recollections of, 24; present at the Christmas Conference, 
46 ; statement of, concerning Dr. Coke and the General Superintendence", 

75 ; testimony of. respecting adoption of the Episcopal form of government, 

76 : volunteers as missionary to the West, 133 ; testimony to Jesse Lee's 
oratorical powers, 341 ; biographical sketch of, 427-430. 

Watch-night, a special and a solemn service in early Methodism, 231 : Wes- 
ley's accouut of, 231 ; descriptions of early watch-night services, 231-233 ; 
adopted by the new Chureh/232. 

Watters, William, first native itinerant preacher in the United States, 47 ; 

present at Christmas Conference, 4S ; brief biography of, 430-433. 

Wells, Edgar, conversion of, 111. 112 ; death of, 113. 

Wesley, Charles, censures his brother for ordaining, 94. 

Wesley, John, letter of. to Christmas Conference, 20, 21; loyal Church- 
man, a, 21; letter of, to Christmas Conference "read and cordially ap- 
proved," 23 ; loyalist opinions of, embarrass his laborers in America*. 25 ; 
claimed to receive his power to orduin from the ''Great Head of the 
Church," 30: relation of. to the new Church, 51; acts and recorded utter- 
ances of, in respect to the organization of the new Church, 51 ; writings of, 
concerning the Christmas Conference seem at variance with his acts, 52 ; 
reasons for setting: apart Coke to the Superintendency, 52 ; statement of, in 
the Minutes of the English Conference of 1785, 53 ; opposed to reparation 
from Church of Eneiand, 54 ; explains his provision for the Churches in 
America and Scotland. 55 ; did not intend to relinquish his power as chief 
ruler of American Met'nodism, 56; submission to, required of preachers in 
America, 56 ; grieved at Whatcoat's rejection, 5S ; removal of his name 
from the Minutes, 59 ; peculiarities of his plan for the continuance of 
Methodists in the ^National Church, 63 ; excludes from English Confer- 
ence (1785) those preachers whose opinions he did not tike] 66 ; did not 
intend that full separation should take plaee, 74 ; instructions of. to Dr. 
Coke, 77; " Circular Letter," the famous, 78; did not contemplate the con- 
vening of a General Conference to consider his uction, 79 ; regretted separa- 
tist action of General Conference, 80, 82; annoyed at Coke's conduct in 
persuading the people to depart from l is plan, S2; chagrined at the inde- 
pendent organization of American Methodism, 82; omission of his name 
from the Minutes, the first, 84 ; did not intend to make Coke a Bishop, 87 ; 



General Index. 



553 



Wesley, John, (continued.) 

opposed the word " Episcopal" as applied to the new Church, 88 ; opposed 
to the title "Bishop," 90 ; letter of, to Asbury, respecting his assumption of 
the title " Bishop," 90, 91 ; claimed the right to control the Superintend- 
ents and remove them from office, 92 ; biography of, by Coke and Moore, 
93 ; believed himself to be a scriptural epivcopos, 94 ; declares that Coke 
had "done nothing rashly," 95; visits Sunday-school at Bolton in 1787, 
172; name expunged from Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
349, 351. 

Wesleyan Methodists prompt to adopt and develop the Sunday-school 
idea, 172, 173. 

Wesleyan Seminary, 214. 

"Western Conference," The, 45. 

Whatcoat. Richard, came to America by Wesley's authority, 30 ; present 
at the Christmas Conference, 48 ; designated as Superintendent by Wesley, 
56 ; opposition to, 57 ; ordained by Wesley, 86 ; offers to go as missionary 
to America, 93; early life and conversion, 361, 362; ministerial la bors, 
commencement of, 363; ordained by Wesley for the American work, 363 ; 
early friendship with Asbury, 363 ; laborious ministerial work, 364 ; re- 
vival of 1789, zealous labors in, 364 ; chosen Bishop, 365 ; southern travels, 
365 ; talents and acquirements of, 366; personal appearance and manner, 
366, 370; recollections of, by Laban Clark, 367 ; pulpit powers, 367, 368 ; 
last days and death, 370; appointment as Superintendent urged by Coke, 
462 ; chosen Bishop by General Conference of 1800, 472. 

White, Bishop, letter of Dr. Coke to, referred to, 74. 

Williamson, Thomas, volunteers as a missionary to Kentucky, 130. 

Willis, Henry, appointed by Asbury to remain in Charleston, 113 ; impor- 
tance of his work in Charleston, 115 ; testimony of his compeers to his work, 
115 ; extent of his labors and death, 115 ; succeeds Lambert in Tennessee, 
132. 

Wilson, John, elected Book Agent, 1808, 321 ; died in 1810. 

Wilson, Michael H. R., early death of, 161. 

Witness of the Spirit, Coke preaches on the necessity of the, 32. 

Wright, Richard, sent to re-enforce the work in America, 9. 

Wye camp-ground, Md., meeting held at, in 1809, of historic interest, 
502. 



Young, Benjamin, missionary to Illinois, 458. 
24 



554 GenejbaL Index. 



II. AUTHORITIES QUOTED, 

Allen, Beverly, " Work of God in America," 113. 

Andrew, J. O., description of Dougliarty, George, 180. 

4 4 Arminian Magazine," Bell, Thomas, account of Methodism in New York 
in 1769, 10 ; Asbury, letter from, March 20, 1784, 20; Black, W., in 1711, 
20; Jarratt, Devereux, letter from, 1773, 22; Dromgoole. E., letter to Wes- 
ley, May 24, 1783, 27 ; Black, W., " Journal," 1791, 37 ; Asbury to Wesley, 
Sept. 20, 1783, 122 ; Raikes, B., account of the origin of the Sunday-school, 
171 ; account of the Sunday-school at Bolton-le-Moors, 1788, 172; Coke, T.. 
"Journal," 199; Cooper, E., letter from, dated Sept. 10,1789, 239 ; letter 
from Asbury to Wesley in, 1786, 250; Shadford, in, 264; Whitelield to 
Wesley, Oct. 14, 1746, 270; Bryan, J., to Wesley, 270; letter from Myles, 
Z., 271 ; Bishop M'Kendree quoted in, 278 ; Kingston, J., in, 295 ; Black, 
W., "Journal" in, 1791, 333; letter of Whatcoat in, 1781, 363; letter 
from Dromgoole to Wesley, 1791, 378 ; Coke's eulogy of Dromgoole in, 
1798, 381 , Sneath, Bichard, in, 1803, respecting revival in Philadelphia in 
1800, 481 ; Asbury, writing on camp- meetings, 491 ; Asbury on M'Kendn e\s 
elevation to the Episcopate, 1808, 516. 

64 Arminian Magazine, 9 ' (Philadelphia,) Coke, T., "Journal," 35; 
Coke, "Journal," 49, 65, 68, 94; Coke, T., quoted in, 1789, 94; Coke, T.. 
"Journal" in, 119, 125, 126; Haw, J., quoted in, 1789, 131; "Journal" 
. quoted in, vol. i, 294; Coke, "Journal," on Garrettson, 396. 

Asbury, Francis, " Journal," vol. i, 67 ; Hid., vol. i, 271 ; ibid., vol. ii, 140 ; 
ibid., vol. ii, 167 ; ibid., vol. ii, 196; ibid., vol. ii, 204; ibid., vol. iii, 40; 
ibid., vol. iii, 97, 98; ibid., vol. iii, 135; ibid., vol. iii, 152; vol. ii, 153; 
" Notes on the Discipline "—See Coke and Asbury; "Valedictory Address," 
21, 33. 

44 Baltimore Episcopal Methodist," communication, Sept. 15, 1883, on 
William Watters, 432. 

Bangs, Nathan, "History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," on Heck 
family, 16 ; ibid., 44 ; sermon preached at opening of John Street Church, 
Jan. 4, 1818, 250; " History of the Methodist Episcopal Church," on Lem- 
uel Green, 406, 407; ibid., on William Phoebus, 415, 416. 

Beauchamp, W., " Letters on the Itinerancy," 168. 

Bennett, " Memorials of " Methodism in Virginia," 22, 2 ?6, 290 ; ibid., on Ed- 
ward Dromgoole, 381^ 382 ; ibid., on Joseph Everett, 381 ; ibid., on O'Kelly's 
withdrawal, 449 ; ibid., on the revival of 1800, 470. 

Benson, J., "Defense of the Methodists," 174. 

44 Bihlical Repertory and Theological Review,* 5 April, 1830, state- 
ment of the rise of Sunday-schools in, 177-170. 

Black, W., " Journal " in " Arminian Magazine," 1791, ^1, 333, 334. 

Boehm, Henry, " Beminiscences," 45, 254, 293; ihd,, on " Whatcoat's 
Powers as a Preacher," 368; ibid., on Le Roy Cole,;tf4; ibid., on Jo:*eph 
Everett ; 389, 390 ; ibid., on William Glendeniiiag, 40£ 

Bond, J. W., in " Christian Advocate and Journal," Aj^'i 17. 1829, 256. 

Bond, T. E., " Appeal to the Methodists," 151. 

Brown, G., " BeeolXeotioiu of mi ItisasamV' 16fe» 



General Index. 



555 



Carroll, John, "Case and his Contemporaries," on Garrettson's work in New 
York State, 399 ; on the Rev. Samuel Coate, 507. 

Chalmers, J., in " Christian Advocate and Journal," March 6, 1829, 253. 

6i Christian Advocate and Journal," Fort, William, on Strawbridge's 
preaching in Maryland, July 10, 1844, 8; ibid., August 14, 1844, 103, 106; 
ibid., February, 1834, Ware, T., 133; ibid., May 30, 1834, Jennings, J., 
in, 163; ibid.,' Deo. 1. 1841, 203: ibid., Cooper, E., letter from, dated Aug. 
17, 1789, 239; ibid., July 22, 1836, 240; ibid., Chalmers, J., in, March 6, 
1829, 253; ibid., Bond, J. W., in, April 17,1829, 256; ibid., March 21, 
1800, vide Vanne^t's account of Jesse Lee's New England itinerary, 337 ; 
ibid., Sept. 7, 1842, vide Henry Smith's account of Asbury's regard for the 
struggling New England Churcii, 339; ibid., Patterson, James, recollections 
of Whatcoat in, 367 ; ibid., March 19, 1830, on Lee Roy Cole, 373, 374; ibid., 
June 24, 1846, letter from Wesley to James O. Cromweli, 376 ; ibid., Nov. 
9, LS32, on death of James O. Cromwell and wife, 376, 377 ; ibid., Eoberts, 
G. C. M., on Ne:son Reed Dec. 9, 1840, 422 ; ibid., Editorial, De<>. 9, 1840, 
on Nelson Reed, 423 ; ibid., Kobler, J., in, Aug. 5, 1831. 450, 451; ibid., 
obituary of William Colbert, Aug. 9, 1833, 510; ibid., editorial on M' Ken- 
dree, April 3, 1836, 516. 

Coke, Thomas, "Journal," 35, 36, 64, 65, 68; "Sermon ;it Ordination of 
Asbury," 73; " Journal," 94; " Agreement at General Conference of 1796," 
96; "Journal," 119, 123, 125. 126, 186; ibid., "Five Visits to America," 
193 ; ibid., in " Arminian Magazine," 1793, 199 ; ibid., 236 ; ibid., in " Ar- 
minian Magazine," (Am. ) vol. i, 294; ibid., controversy wiih Devereux 
Jarratt respecting Negro slavery, 354; ibid., on suspension of Le Roy Cole, 
374 ; on " Garrettson's Labors in Ne>v York State," 399, 400. 

Coke and Asbury, " Notes on the Discipline," 138, 151. 

Coke iind Moore, " Life of Wesley," 54, 55, 88, 93. 

Colbert, W., "Journal," 1792. recording a visit to Mrs., Srawbridge, 11 ; 
ibid., 101, 136. 155, 161, 197 , ibid., on Whateoat's preaehin^, 369 ; ibid., on 
quarterly meetings early in the century, 369, foot-note / ibid., on revival in 
Baltimore in 1800, 473 {ibid., on Leonard Cassell, 502. 

Cooper, E., " Sermon on Asbury," 80 ; on " The Bishop's Power," in " Wes- 
leyan Repository'," 140 ; on Asbury, 287 ; " Funeral Sermon on Asbury," 
296 ; " Funeraf Discourse on John Dickins," 315, 316, 326, 328. 

Creamer, D., "Last Brick from Cokesbury College," in "The Methodist," 
Sept. 21, 1861, 191 ; " Maryland Methodism and Slavery," 355. 

Crowther, J,, " True and Complete Portraiture of Methodism," 58, 174 



Dailey, D., "Experience and Gospel Labors of Rev. Thomas Smith," 253; 
"Memoir of the Rev. Thomas Smith," on William Gill, 404. 

Dickins, J., quoted in Emory's "Defense of Our Fathers," 105 ; in "Meth- 
odist Magazine," 1798, 297 ; quoted by Emory in " Defense of Our Fathers," 
297. 

Dow, L., "Journal," 227. 
Drew, " Life of Dr. Coke," 352. 

Dromgoole, Edward, manuscript sketch of his grandfather, the Rev. 
Edward Dromgoole, 377, 383. 

Emory, " Defense of our Fathers," John Dickins quoted in, 105, 297. 

Finley, J. B., " Autobiography," 217; "Sketches of Western Meth- 
odism," 451. 



550 



General Index. 



Garrettson, F«,"Life," 26; in "Methodist Quarterly Review," 1830, 92; 
" Semi- Centennial Sermon," 99; "Experience and Travels," 126; "Semi- 
Centennial Sermon," 127; "Experience and Travels," 154; "Semi-Cen- 
tennial Sermon," 154, 164, 298, 323, 326, 398, 399 ; ibid,, on William Gill, 
402. 

General Conference Journal, for 1800, on full and equal jurisdiction of 
Asbury and Whatcoat, 471 ; for 1804, on Caleb E^yer, 373. 

Giendenning, W., "Life," as quoted in Lee's History, 42. 

" History of the Gathering of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 
Boston, 9 ' vide Church Becords of 1800, quoted in Stevens's " Memorials," 

335. 

Hitt, D 9 , letter of, in " Lamp of Life," May, 1884, 307. 

Jennings, J., in " Christian Advocate and Journal," May, 30, 1834, 163. 
Jennings, S. K», "Exposition," 30. 

Kingston, J., in " Arminian Magazine," 1799, 295. 

46 Lamp of Life," May, 1884, letter of Hitt, D., in, 307. 

Leaton, James, "History of Methodism in Illinois," on Benjamin Young, 

458, 459. 

Lednum, " Eise of Methodism in America," 34, 49 ; ibid., on Caleb Boyer, 372 ; 
ibid., on William Gill, 403 ; ibid., on Thomas Vasey, 427. 

Lee, Jesse, "History of the Methodists," 29, 32, 38, 42, 89, 179; "Journal," 
(on the death of John Dickins,) 330 ; "History of the Methodists," on Will- 
iam Gill, 403; ibid., on Council of Presiding Elders, 437, 438. 

Lee, Le Roy M., "Life and Times of the Rev. Jesse Lee," 44,101, 228; ibid., 
on Council of Presiding Elders, 439 ; ibid., on John Dickins at General 
Conference of 1792, 442; ibid., on O'Kelly, 463; ibid., on the O'Kellv 
strife, 499. 

Letters, Asbury, F., March 20, 1784, 20: Jarratt, Devereux, to Wesley, 22; 
Ware, Thomas, in " Defense of Truth," 24; Asbury to Joseph Benson, 26 ; 
Dromgoole, E., to Wesley, May 24,1783, 27; Dromgoole, E., Sept. 20, 
1828, extracts from, 40 ; Asbury to Joseph Benson, 56, 57, 59 ; Coke, T., 
to Wesley, 70, 71 ; Asbury to Wesley, 72 ; Coke, T., to Bishop White, 74; 
Ware, T., 75; Wesley to Asbury, Sept. 20, 1788, 90 ; Kobler, J., to Lee, 
LeKoy M., 101 ; Dromgoole, to Wesley, 1784, 110; Lee, J., to the author, 
120 ; Morrell, F. A., to the author, 120,' 121 ; xAsbury to Wesley in " Armin- 
ian Magazine," 1791, 122 ; Haw, J., to Asbury, 130 ; Asbury to Colbert, 
W., April, 1805, 138 ; Asbury to Hitt, D., Nov. 7, 1804, 138; Asbury. F., 
to Miles, Z., Aug. 16, 1804, 143; Hutchinson, D. P., to the author, 152; 
Asbury to Colbert, April 16, 1805, 155; Beegle, IL B., to the author, 157 ; 
Coate, S., to Asbury, quoted in " Methodist' Magazine," 1798, 160; "Ex- 
tracts of Letters containing Some Account of the Work of God since the 
year 1800," 169 ; Asbury, F., to Dickins, J., 198; Cooper, E., from Sept. 
10, 1789, in " Arminian Magazine," Aug. 1790, 239; Cooper, E., from Aug. 
17, 1789, published in "Christian Advocate and Journal," 1851, 239; 
Asbury to Weslev, March 20. 1784. 250 ; Asburv, F., to Atmore, C, June 
3, 1803, 264; Whitefield to Wesley,' Oct. 14, 1746", 270 ; Bryan, J., to Wesley, 
in "Arminian Magazine," 1785, 270; Myles, Z., February, 1807, in "Ar- 
minian Magazine," 1807, 271; Asbury, F., to Morrell, T., 276; autograph 
letter of Asbury to "Elder Colbert," 278; Talbutt, J., to Bishop Asbuty, 
1803, 284; " Extracts of Letters containing Some Account of the Work of 
God since the year 1800," 285 ; Asbury to Coke, Sept. 2, 1811, in 11 Merlx d 
ist Magazine," 1812, 299 ; Asbury to Mead, S., January 16, 181", 299; 
Asbury to his parents, 303, 304; Asbury, F., to Morrell, T., on the ob-iiga- 



General Index. 



557 



Letters, (continued.) 

tion of children to parents, 305 : Bond, to Hitt, D., afient the death of 
Asbury, 307 ; Coke to Bishop White proposing union of the Methodist 
Episcopal and Protestant Episcopal Churches, 348, 349 ; Whatcoat, in 
" Arminian Magazine," 1781,363 ; Dronigoole to Wesley, in "Arminian 
Magazine," 378 ; Morrell, Bev. F. A., to the author, on John Hagerty, 
409 ; " Extracts of Letters," etc., by the preachers and members of the 
Methodist Episcopal Church to their Bishops, 477, 478; Coate to Benson, 
in " Arminian Magazine," on results of his [Coate's] preaching, 507. 

M'Annally , quoted in M'Ferrin's " History of Methodism in Tennessee," 128. 

M'Caine, A., "History and Mystery of Methodist Episcopacy," 42,43; 
" Defense of the Truth," 24, 39, 41. 

Merritt, Timothy, "Review of a Pamphlet entitled Letters on Methodism," 
336. 

44 Methodist Magazine," 1827, 98 ; ibid., 1797, 111 ; ibid., 1798, Coate, S., 
in, 160; ibid., 1828, 174; ibid., Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Epis- 
copal Church, First Annual Report of the, 1828, 175, 180; ibid., 1798, Dick- 
ins, J., in, 297 ; ibid., 1812, letter from Asbury to Coke, Sept. 2, 1811, 299. 

"Methodist Protestant," Ira A. Easter's eulogy of Edward Dromgoole, 
in, Sept. 2, 1831, 382 ; ibid., Eli Henkle's description of Jonathan Forrest's 
preaching, 392. 

44 Methodist Quarterly Review," Ware, T., vol. xiv, 20 ; ibid., Ware, T., 
vol. xiv, 1832, 23; ibid.. Ware, T., vol. xiv, 1832, 25 ; ibid., Ware, T., vol. 
xiv, 1832, 31 ; ibid., Ware, T., "The Christinas Conference," 1832, 46; 
ibid., vol. xiv, 1832, Ware T., in, 64; ibid., Ware, T., "The Christmas 
Conference," 1832, 76 ; ibid., v ol. xii, 1830, Garrettson, F., in, 92; ibid., 
Andrew, J. ()., in, 1830, 114; ibid., 1830, Asbury quoted in, 285. 

44 Methodist, The," Sept. 21, 1861, Creamer's "Last Brick from Cokesbury 
College," 191. 

M'Ferrin, "History of Methodism in Tennessee," 128. 

Minutes of English Conference, 1785, statement by John Wesley, in 
" Arminian Magazine," 1786, 53, 54. 

M'Kendree, "Life," 141; on Church government, in his " Life," vol. ii, 169. 
Mood, " Methodism in Charleston," 114, 413. 
Moore, H., See Coke and Moore, etc. 
Moore, H., "Life of Wesley," 88, 93, 94, 95. 
M'Tyeire, " Biographical Sketches," 160. 

44 Mutual Rights and Christian Intelligencer," 1830, M'Caine, Alex- 
ander, in, 39; ibid., corresponding in, during 1829, on O'Kelly and his 
party, 449. 

Myles, " Chronological History of Methodism," 55, 77, 174, 231. 

Payne, Bishop, "Life of Bishop M'Kendree," 305; ibid., on O'Kelly at 
General Conference of 1792, 441. 

Phcebus, W., "Memoirs of Bev. Richard Whatcoat," 57; "Life of What- 
coat," letter from W r eslev, 60 ; " Memoirs of Whatcoat," 62, 83, 97, 124, 260 ; 
365. 

Pierce, L., quoted in Spraguc's " Annals," 180. 

Raybold, " Annals of Methodism," 164, 165; "Methodism in West Jersey," 
243; ibid., on James O. Cromwell, 376 ; ibid., account of Coate's preaching 
quoted in, 504. 



558 



General Index. 



Redford, "History of Methodism in Kentucky," 215, 216 ; ibid., on suspen- 
sion of Le Roy "Cole, 374, 375 ; on Ira Ellis, 385. 

Roberts, George C. M., on Nelson Reed in " Christian Advocate and Jour- 
nal," Dec. 9, 1840, 422. 



Shadford, in " Arminian Magazine," 1790, 264. 

Shipp, " History of Methodism in North Corolina," 159 ; " History of Meth- 
odism in South Carolina," 115, 159, 206 ; ibid., on early camp-meetings, 489, 
490. 

Smith, G. G., " Life and Letters of James Osgood Andrew," 104; " History 
of Methodism in Georgia and Florida," 204 ; ibid., on Richard Ivey, 411, 
412. 

Smith, Ho, in "Christian Advocate and Journal," Dec. 1,1841,203; ibid., 
Sept. 7, 1842, respecting Asbury's regard for the infant Church in New 
England, 339. 

Sneath, Richard, in " Arminian Magazine," 1803, respecting revival in 
Philadelphia, 1800, 481. 

Snethen, N., " Eeply to O'Kelly's Apology for Protesting against the Meth- 
odist Episcopal Church Government," 58, 61; "Methodist History" in 
" Wesleyan Repository," 59 ; sermon in " The Christian World," 1841, 67, 
144; "Methodist History," 145; "Reply to O' Kelly," 148, in "Wesleyan 
Repository," vol. i, 212; in ibid., concerning Lee's oratorical powers, 
340 ; " Reply to O'Kelly," referring to expulsion of Wesley's name from the 
Minutes, 352; ibid., on Council of Presiding Elders, 435, 436, 440 ; ibid., 
on Asbury's agreement to the calling of a General Conference, 439 ; ibid., 
444, 445. 

Snethen, Worthington G., "Life of Nicholas Snethen," (unpublished,) 
499, 500; ibid., on Wye camp-meeting, 1809, 502-504. 

Soule, Joshua, " Memoir of John Hagerty," 408, 409. 

Sprague, " Annals of the American Pulpit," 180, 207 ; ibid., on Coke's pulpit 
powers, 347, 348 ; ibid., on Whatcoat's preaching, 368; ibid., on Nelson 
Reed, 424. 

Summers, in " Wesley Memorial Volume," 210. 

Sunday-School Union of the Methodist Episcopal Church, First Annual 

Report of the, in " Methodist Magazine," 175. 
Stevens, "Memorials of the Introduction of Methodism in New England," 

335. 



Tyerman, " Life of Wesley," 82. 

Thrift, Mill ton, " Memoir of Jesse Lee," on Coke's missionary plans, 346. 
Travis, J., " Autobiography," 184, 302. 



Vannest, Peter, on Jesse Lee's itinerancy in New England, in "Christian 
Advocate and Journal," March 21, 1850, 337. 



Wakeley, J. B., " Lost Chapters Recovered from the Early History of Ameri- 
can Methodism," on Heck family, 13, 14; ibid., on John Dickins's sal- 
ary, 310 ; ibid., on Lemuel Green, 406. 

Ware, T., " Life of Ware," 66; in " Christian Advocate and Journal," Feb- 
ruary, 1834, 133; "Life," 180; on Jeremiah Lambert, 412. 



GrENEEAL INDEX. 



559 



Watters, W., "Autobiography," 32, 78, 136, 297. 

Wesley, J., " Circular Letter," 78 ; " Journal," Sept. 1, 1784, 86. 

"Wesleyan Repository," Snethen, N., "Methodist History," 59; ibid.i 
Sncthen, N., in, 84; ibid., article on "American Itinerancy," 136; ibid.-, 
Cooper, E., on " The Bishop's Power," vol. iii, 140; ibid., vol. iii, 141; 
ibid., Snethen, N., in, 212* ibid., Snethen, N., on Lee's oratorical gifts, 
340 ; ibid., notice of Leonard Cassell in, 501, 502. 

Whatcoat, Richard, "Journal," 68, 260 ; ibid., in Phcebus's Memoirs, 
365. 

Wi-htman, " Biographical Sketches," 255, 288. 

Young, Jacob, " Autobiography of a Pioneer," (M'Kendree,) 458. 



THE END. 



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